


It's a Dangerous Game

by Bibliophile_812



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Archie is Betty's boss, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Cheating, F/M, Falling In Love, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jughead is Betty's boss, Jughead/Archie/Veronica Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Naive Betty Cooper, OOC Betty, Slow Burn, Soft Jughead Jones, barchie relationship, implied/referenced suicidal tendency
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:49:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 55,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25207240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliophile_812/pseuds/Bibliophile_812
Summary: “You don’t like my relationship with your friend, do you?”The piercing green eyes were trying to search his soul. He curled his fist and punched hard on the wall, his face just an inch away from hers, “damn straight, I don’t”. He spoke through gritted teeth, “For fuck’s sake, Betty, he has a fiancée. Have you ever thought who you are to him?”The innocent eyes did not look away or hesitate, “Are you jealous?”He froze on the spot. Partly because she was right, how much ever he tried to deny all his feelings, he could not anymore. But mostly because he realized that he lost this battle, he cannot save her from the classic Archie Andrews mess. She has already fallen into the trap.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 64
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I know that I have an unfinished work but this idea just struck me so hard. I had to write this. Please please please let me know if you like this with kudos/comments.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

Betty was nervous. It was a lovely bright winter morning, like the ones she enjoys the most. But today she was in no mood to enjoy anything. She could not make herself to eat anything before she headed out of her small one room apartment. She has to book an Uber or she might be late. While waiting for the cab, her hands started smoothing imaginary creases on her trousers. Her mind went back to the conversation with her best friend one week earlier. Kevin insisted her to go for the interview. It’s not the kind of job she was hoping to secure, but she wanted a job desperately. With her student loan and the loss in her parent’s business, she was ready to take up any job. This was not how it always was. She was a girl from small town with big dreams. She always liked numbers and calculations. Her teachers called her a genius when it came to numbers. She wanted to be someone whom people will know instantly in finance world. When she was accepted for finance major in Columbia, her whole family was over the moon. They all believed in her. She was the brilliant daughter of otherwise mediocre Cooper family. But now, after taking her college degree and appearing for job interviews for past six months, it seems like some distant dream. Her result was good, but she does not know why none of the interviews was a success. Maybe it’s her anxiety. Or, her lack of glamourous style for corporate world.

Sighing heavily, she tightened her ponytail for one last time. Andrews Fashion House is not a big organization, but it has its own reputation in Fashion industry. After her conversation with Kevin, she searched everything about the company, how the company is growing, what are their future strategies, what are their goals. Whatever was available publicly over internet, she grasped them. Certainly, she never expected to apply for the position of personal assistant of the chairman of a fashion company. But Kevin is dating the lead designer here, Fangs Fogarty. So, when Kevin came to know about the vacancy, he insisted his childhood best friend to apply for it.

“You can still keep applying for your dream jobs, Betty. Try this one for fun and experience.” Kevin reasoned. Then he added in a playful voice, “Also, the current chairman is young Archie Andrews, he is a hottie, women literally drool all over him.” Betty gave her friend a chastising look. She was never the one pining over a guy. But that could be because no guy ever spared a second glance at her. Even in her small hometown, she was plain and too ordinary to date with her full sleeve sweaters and tight ponytail. Her entire world was her family and studies. She had only one close friend throughout her whole school life and that was Kevin. Which was ironical considering Kevin has always been a social butterfly. But she was friendly enough to everyone. She has that niceness and polite nature ingrained within herself.

The reception was big and chilly. Betty was shivering from the cold even under her thick sweater. She sat on a big sofa where the receptionist, who introduced herself as Maria, told her to wait. The office was already very busy with daily activities. People were continuously filling in through the revolving glass door. One particularly elegant looking woman entered, dressed in a black skirt-suit and white pearls. Her shiny smooth black hair reflected the lights from overhead chandelier. The receptionist girl straightened herself instantly before greeting the woman with respect and fear. Betty recognized her from all the news portals. She was Veronica Lodge, the Managing Director for marketing and advertising in Andrews Fashion House, also the fiancée of Archie Andrews. She read that only last year ex-chairman and CEO Fred Andrews expressed his desire to retire and pass the responsibility to his only son, Archie. Elder members in the board were sceptical about this decision. So, it was concluded that Archie will take over the company on trial basis for two years. If he is not able to perform as per expectation, Senior Andrews would come back as CEO and the board would decide on next chairman by voting. The media highlighted that it was an ordeal for Archie Andrews as other young members of board like Nick St. Claire were very keen on fighting for the chairmanship. Veronica was already heading the media and advertising department for last three years. But they got engaged just before Archie was announced the next chairman of the company. Veronica is also a member of board as Betty understood. She inherited her shares from her father, Hiram Lodge, who willingly moved away from the company almost a decade ago, writing everything to his only daughter. Lodge family themselves own a bunch of business establishments all over United States. But Veronica chose to work for this company, Betty suspected, to keep close to her fiancée. Archie Andrews is a handsome and flamboyant character. Kevin did not exaggerate. Women go crazy over his fiery red hair, muscular body and brown puppy eyes. He is seen and rumoured with a different woman on each occasion. But none of those are serious relationships as he himself and his fiancée clarified politely in each interview.

* * *

Betty was lost in her thoughts when Maria called her name and guided her to a small glass cabin. Betty’s knees went weak as she followed Maria and she tried to maintain her normal breathing. The cabin was simple with a leather-bound big table, one revolving chair and a few comfortable seats for the guests. Maria handed her over to the HR person, who was a girl of Betty’s age only, with short red hair and a chubby face. She was already studying her resume as Betty entered. Betty greeted her politely before taking her seat. The girl smiled and announced herself as Ethel. She had a baffled expression after finishing her resume.

“You are way too over-qualified for this job”, Ethel informed her.

Betty quickly replied, “I don’t mind. I need this job.”

“I’m sorry, Betty. This is a job for people who would be engaged in bringing Mr. Andrews his coffee, taking notes, arranging his desk and attending calls for him, not a Finance Major. Why did you even apply for this position?” genuine curiosity was evident in her voice.

Betty’s eyes almost prickled with tears at the notion of rejection. “Please, Ethel. I will do everything needed to keep this job. Please. Just give me a chance.”

Ethel shook her head, “I’m really sorry Sweetie. But I cannot hire a person who would leave the job as soon as they get a job offer matching their qualification.”

“I won’t. I promise”, she did not care if she sounded too desperate. Because she was. She was in dire need of a job.

Ethel was still not convinced. Her eyebrows tightly knit. But just as it looked like she was about to dismiss her with another apologetic smile, the door of the room burst open and a tall and lean young man stormed in. He was wearing a plaid jacket and black jeans with combat boots, messy raven hair carelessly splayed all over his forehead, looking nothing like a sophisticated corporate employee. Betty gasped softly at the abrupt entry. Ethel shot up on her feet with a nervous look on her face. The man scanned the room, his eyes lingered on Betty a couple of moments before going back to Ethel. “Where’s Archie?” he demanded. Ethel murmured something about her boss’s phone being switched off only to be waved off by the man, “Save it, Ethel. He was bringing the strategy file, what the hell am I supposed to present to the board now? How are we going to manage the budget for next collection?” Ethel was clearly clueless, she continued hanging her head low. But something inside Betty clicked on the mention of budget cut. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “You could save up to twenty five percent of investment if you outsource the stitching job to local vendors, instead of paying fancy tailors. It won’t compromise your quality also as those people are skilled enough.” The silence in the room was deafening. She could not look at anyone but the floor. What was she doing? Already the hiring person was ready to turn her down because of over-qualification. Now, there would be absolutely no chance of getting hired. Just as she looked up to apologize, her whole body became hot under the man’s intense gaze. He has the most beautiful blue eyes she has ever seen. He was looking at her with an expression of mixed curiosity and appreciation. “And who are you?” he spoke with the same deep voice.

She stuttered slightly, “I…I applied for the job.”

He nodded firmly, “Good. You are hired.”

Ethel cried, “But it’s for the assistant position and she is…”.

He held up one hand gesturing Ethel to stop, “I don’t fucking care. Process her papers. NOW.” Then he turned to Betty again, his expression grave, “And you, you meet me in Chairman’s cabin in five.” He turned to leave. Betty tried to hurry behind him with an extended hand, “Th…thank you, Sir.”

He did not take her hand, instead tucked his own hands in his jacket’s pocket and offered, “Jughead. Just Jughead.” With a slight nod he was gone.

Betty identified his name from a few news posts about the latest changes in the company. He is the Managing Director of Finance. She remembered not finding enough information about him online. She was frustrated because she likes to do her homework before appearing for an interview. Being a Finance Major herself, not knowing about the Finance head of the company was a bummer. He has a mysterious identity. Some claimed that he was Fred Andrew’s adopted son. Some claimed that he was Mary Andrews’s nephew. Few articles even declared him as Veronica Lodge’s step brother. But he refuses to use any surname or to be present at any public events. Only available information is that he accepted the charge of finance division a few months back when ex-MD Mr. Santiago retired. Nobody knows what he did before or what his qualification is.

Her papers were processed at the speed of light and before she knew Ethel was handing her a temporary badge. “You will get your regular employee badge tomorrow”, she informed her. She was screaming so loud internally. She even pinched herself several times, careful not to make a fool of herself in front of Ethel. The girl led her to third floor where a wooden closed door with glass panels and a nameplate “Archie Andrews, Chairman and CEO” was standing. She was still not able to believe her eyes. Finally, she was able to get a job. Albeit, it was not fancy or glamourous. But it’s still a source of income. The salary mentioned in the job posting was enough to be able to send some money every month to her family after she pays her bills and buys a couple of books.

Ethel knocked softly on the door. The door opened revealing Jughead. His jacket was now on the back of chair, his sleeves half folded exposing his tanned wrist. The chamber was specious with a separate seating area for the guests, a big screen and a futon placed in another corner, one wall was made of glass overlooking busy streets of New York city. All three other walls were decorated with bright and vibrant colours and photographs. The big mahogany table was having a plush revolving chair on one side and two cushiony chairs on the other. On the table, there is an empty flower vase, a few pen holders and more photo frames. Scattered files and laptops on the small glass table in seating area indicated that Jughead was working there. He thanked Ethel and ushered Betty to the seating space. His whole demeanour was tensed and when he spoke, he meant business.

“Betty, look through the blue cover file. That has the records of our spending and estimated profit for the next collection. Study them real quick and tell me how do you think we can present the strategy?”

Her interest and enthusiasm perked at his words. She was always the responsible one. She loved to be trusted with tough jobs. So, she did not mind that it was her first day or how complicated the account records looked. She started the job at once. She was not oblivious to the look on Maria or Ethel’s faces when they first saw her. She understood that they were appraising her plain look and lack of fashion sense. She saw how every female employee were wearing some or the other stylish dress. All had gorgeous hair, all sporting high heel or stilettos, with perfect makeups completing their looks matching the spirits of a fashion house. She was grateful that Jughead did not seem to mind. He was engrossed in his calculations and expected the same from her, which was a relief.

When they started for the meeting half an hour later, Archie was still nowhere to be seen. Jughead muttered something under his breath as they neared the meeting room. Following his line of vision, she saw Veronica standing near the door. The raven-haired woman eyed her suspiciously and spoke to Jughead, “Where is Archie?” He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” she screeched, anger and frustration clearly showing. He hissed, “Will you keep your voice down? Do you want Nick to jump on this opportunity and claim that the current chairman is irresponsible?”

Her voice went down to whispering at once, “And how do you plan to prevent that when Archie does not show up for the meeting?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Ronnie”, he said with utmost bitterness, “probably you can wave your wand and conjure your fiancée from wherever the hell he is.”

She gritted her teeth in irritation, “Do you even have something to present?” Then she studied Betty, who was standing silently behind Jughead, with a critical expression. “And who the hell is she?”

“She is Archie’s new assistant”, he informed.

“What is a personal assistant doing in a board meeting?” Veronica demanded, her eyebrows raised.

“Saving Archie’s ass”, he snapped back, “Now, would you mind to move and let us enter before Nick creates another drama?”

The meeting was a disaster, if she put it mildly. Nick St. Claire indeed made a big fuss about Archie’s absence. Fred Andrews kept giving disappointed looks to Jughead and Veronica. Betty somehow managed to help Jughead present their strategy and the idea received good appreciation. Even Fred was amazed, “That was really good work, Jughead.” He nodded, “Thank you, Fred. But I cannot take the credit for this idea. It was Betty.” Betty did not expect at all to be recognized in front of the whole board of directors on the first day of her job. She was happy to accept the idea as Jughead’s because she was too thankful to him for giving her the job. But he did not seem like a person who can take appreciation very well, particularly when someone else deserves them. Nobody except Nick raised questions about a low-level employee being present in board meeting. Jughead simply glared at him. Fred and Mary Andrews acknowledged her with kind smile. Veronica stormed out of the conference room as soon as meeting ended. Other board members also started to leave when Nick walked back to Jughead and Betty. They were collecting the scattered papers and files.

“So, Jughead. Where is your redhead friend? Missing an important board meeting as a Chairman does not look very good on his image, don’t you think?” Nick’s voice was icy cool, his lips twitched in a smirk.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, Nick? We are doing just fine without your advice”, Jughead shot back.

* * *

Jughead told her to wait in Archie’s office for him to show up. She had nothing else to do for the day. She texted Kevin informing him that she got the job. Then she was thinking whether she should call Polly now or after work. Her boss can enter the office any minute. So, she decided against it. Instead she immersed herself in the photo frames hung on the office walls. Most of them were taken in some event or party, Archie surrounded with friends or alone, one was with his parents on the day Fred handed over the responsibilities to him. On the table there was a photo of Veronica, dressed in elegant royal blue dress flashing a bright smile. Betty could recognize this dress from their engagement photos online. Another black and white picture was on the table, it was of Archie and Jughead’s, both looking much younger, probably in high school, cuddled with a golden retriever. Archie is looking straight at the camera, smile plastered on his face, Jughead is looking at the dog, smiling affectionately. She was studying the photo closely when someone stumbled into the room.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” Archie was wearing a sunglass inside the office, clearly suggesting that he is hung over. He was in a perfect crisp suit but his hair was sticking out a little. Betty quickly set the frame down and approached him, “I am Betty. Betty Cooper. Your new assistant.”

“You are…you are my new assistant?” he looked her up and down. Then flashed a gorgeous smile, the smile that makes any woman’s heart flutter, “Nice to meet you Betty.”

Her heartbeat accelerated. She was not immune to the charm of Archie Andrews. How could she be? Never in her life, boys gave her special attention. Now she is standing so close to the heartthrob of so many women. The smell of his perfume is intoxicating. She managed to reply back politely, “My pleasure, Sir.” He shook his head, “Oh please. Don’t call me sir. Archie is fine.” She gave a shy smile and nodded. Archie led her through a glass door to an antechamber that was probably one tenth of his office in size. It was a cramped dusty room with no window and a small wooden table and a chair. The table had a desktop on it and the wall was covered with shelves and files.

“Ah. I apologize”, Archie exclaimed as he turned on the light switch, “it’s a little out of use. But I will ask someone to clean the room tomorrow. You can settle here. This phone is an extension of my office phone. You can answer the calls.”

Her initial enthusiasm was gone at the sight of her workspace, but she did not show that. She put down her bag on the table and switched on the desktop. Her boss left her in her cabin and walked out. She squealed in her office, and twirled around, still dizzy with the fact that she got a job and Archie Andrews talked to her so nicely.

* * *

Jughead was typing away furiously in his laptop. There was a time, when he liked to play with numbers. But with this job, this fierce competition, this hungry game of targets, he started hating it. He never wanted to study finance though. But he was left with no choice when Fred wanted him to study Finance and take the charge as Finance head in his company. He was way too much indebted to the Andrews family to say no. He knew that if he said no, Fred would never have forced him. But he simply could not. His passion, his writing took backseat while fulfilling his duties towards everyone. Today, after a long time, words flowed through his mind as the author in him was fascinated with Betty’s presence. She was something different. She was original, raw, pure unlike most of the corporate world. She had the smell of earth and fresh flowers in her. And she was brilliant. The way she helped him today in such short notice, he was sure that she could not do that without having an extraordinary intelligence. He did not know why she applied for a job of assistant. It was not his place to ask. Maybe someday, if she sticks around, he will come to know. But for now, her presence was enough inspiration for his writing.

Without warning, his best friend marched inside and collapsed on a chair. He was wearing a sunglass. That means he was partying late last night. Usually, Jughead would welcome him with some sarcastic comment. But not today. He was not ready to burden his mood with any confrontation with Archie. If the redhead says sorry, he would simply accept it, without a snarky comeback. But he did not seem to be there to apologize, “Who hired that grandma?”

Jughead was startled, “Huh?”

Archie removed his sunglasses, his eyes still red and tired, “I needed a sexy personal assistant, Jug. Who the hell hired a country lady with granny sweaters?”

Jughead could feel the heat rising inside him, “That lady saved your sorry ass today. So, think before you speak.”

Archie wiggled his eyebrows at him. He sighed and explained quickly. Archie looked rightfully delighted. But his expression changed to sceptical the next moment, “Why a Finance Major would apply for an assistant’s job?”

Jughead shrugged, “beats me.” Archie looked like in deep thought and Jughead dreaded that. Whenever Archie thinks, he definitely does or plans something stupid and invariably drags Jughead into the mess with him. Sensing his friend’s gaze, Archie assured, “Don’t worry. I will make sure that she stays here.” Jughead was still not so sure about what Archie meant by that. The redhead clarified, “I will see to that she earns enough money so that she does not consider quitting.”

He did not correct his friend saying it’s not always about the money. He was tired of fighting. Tired of babysitting Archie, confronting Veronica, dealing with Nick. He was exhausted of the world around him, his life. He simply offered, “You should talk to Ronnie. She looked pretty pissed off this morning.” Archie stood up at once, smiling smugly, “Already taken care of, Jug. By now, the diamond necklace should be on her desk.”

Jughead’s mind darted back to their school days once Archie left. Simpler days, that’s how he likes to think. Although it was not that simple for a teenage boy whose mother abandoned him and took his sister away, whose father was a hopeless drunk and would be arrested on regular basis for bar fights and DUIs. Still, those days were full of hope. Three of them would lie on their back in Archie’s backyard and talk for hours. Eventually, he would stop talking, looking at the constellations, his friends’ constant chatter creating perfect background music. It was so peaceful. So many days, they would doze off there only and Mary would wake them up to go to bed. He would crash on the couch or in the garage. Veronica’s designated driver would come to get her, no matter how late it was. He would write short stories in his old typewriter and send them for competitions. He won a couple of them. He still has those certificates in his file. FP managed to give him a second hand laptop on his fifteenth birthday. He would write every day, about anything and everything. Mary would make delicious cookies for Christmas. Veronica would gift him a warm sweater seeing the condition of his torn jacket. Fred would make sure that the fridge is always full when he was around. Archie would fight with the jocks in school for bullying him. He dreamed of being a published writer. His friends always by his side. Nothing was impossible in his fantasies. But then he did not have any idea how much of a shitty hand life had dealt him with.

* * *

The rest of Betty’s day before lunch was spent in tidying up her workplace. Once the clock struck half past twelve, she felt her stomach rumbling. She did not have any packed lunch with her and was unsure where the office cafeteria is. As she reluctantly came out of her room to Archie’s office, she spotted a girl with curly black hair talking animatedly with Archie over a file who was staring at her intently, not listening to a thing. She cleared throat to announce her presence. The girl almost jumped at the sound, “Holy shit!” Archie’s head whipped at her direction and a small customary smile broke out, “Oh Val, this is Betty. She joined as my assistant today. Betty, this is Valerie, one of our suppliers."

Though the way Valerie was sitting almost on Archie’s lap or his hands were caressing her bare arm did not look very professional to Betty, she ignored that. Instead, she offered her brightest smile to the girl which she returned graciously. She asked politely to Archie, “Um…Do you want me to take notes or something?”

Archie seemed startled at that idea, “what notes?”

She quickly clarified that she was heading out for lunch but she could stay back if her boss needs her for any work. Archie waved her off saying they were just fine.

She closed the office door behind her and started walking towards the elevator. On her way, she spotted a door with Jughead’s name on it, and another with Veronica’s. Both the doors were closed. She thought for a brief moment how Jughead’s office would look. She was intrigued by his personality. His attitude towards everything seemed quite indifferent, distant. Like, he is just playing his role in all of these. He appreciated her help, but did not smile warmly at her like Archie had. He was sort of aloof and well, detached from everything and everyone. His office walls must be boring grey. With lots of financial documents all over the place. She kept imagining things like that until she was back at the reception again where she found an older woman this time. She hesitated a little before approaching her, interaction with new people always made her nervous. The woman looked up at her and gave her a surprised look. She got that she did not fit here. everyone from Maria to Veronica, even Valerie’s reactions made that clear already. But she got her job, so maybe she should not feel as much self-conscious as she is feeling now. She inquired about the eating place and found herself in a fancy looking cafeteria within five minutes. She got one salad thinking about all the health tips from Kevin. The place was really nice. It had both open and roofed seating arrangements with a beautiful view of the city through glass walls all around. She chose a window side booth to finish her lunch in peace. Some employees were having their meals in different booths, but nobody was eating alone like her. She longed for human interaction, some new acquaintances. If she works here for a longer time than expected, she would need to make a few friends at least. But it was not in her to simply walk up to any stranger and start chitchatting. So, instead she sighed and dialled her best friend. 

“Betty! Oh my God girl! I’m so happy for you”, Kevin screamed over the phone. She grinned instantly relaxing with his voice. They chatted the whole time she ate her food and headed back to her office.

Betty was not prepared to walk on her boss making out with their supplier in his office on her first day of new job. The noise on door made them jump apart and see a very wide-eyed and flushed Betty standing awkwardly. Valerie grumbled something inaudible before turning to Archie and speaking in a clearly disgusted tone, “Well, next time you hire someone as your assistant, at least make sure that they know the basic manners of knocking.” Betty was too embarrassed to point out that making out in chairman’s office is not exactly a very good example of manners. She was busy mumbling nervous apologies. Valerie gave her a final look of disapproval and adjusted her clothes before walking out of the door, shoving her on shoulder mildly in the process. Archie, too adjusted his tie and tucked his shirt before going back to his chair. Betty hurried to her own office space, still red from the little encounter. She opened her office email account which she got notification from Ethel on her personal email. There are only a few emails for the day. She was lazily looking over the mails when the phone on her desk rang, startling her. She froze with the sudden loud sound, unsure of what to do until Archie’s loud voice came through the open door, “Hey, can you please answer the phone?” She assumed that her boss already forgot her name, which was not surprising at all if one would consider his usual gorgeous companies contrasted to her vanilla personality.

“Hello?” she picked up the receiver finally. There was a moment’s silence before the unmistakable clipped tone of Veronica Lodge burst through it, “You are the new assistant, right? Ask your boss to answer his damn phone.” Uncertain of what to answer, she found herself stuttering, “Y..yes Ma’am. I … well…I will transfer this call to his line.” As soon as she said that, she realized that she did not know how to transfer this call to the other line. She rushed out of her office panicked to Archie’s desk, “Sir, Veronica Ma’am is on the line. She wants to speak to you.” Archie sighed heavily before picking up the receiver of his own desk phone and dismissing her.

Back in her office, she once again found herself debating over whether she should put the receiver down or it would disconnect the call. The sound was loud enough for her to hear even when the receiver was not pressed in her ear. She could make out the heated exchange between the couple.

“…care to explain why you could not join me for lunch today?”

“I told you, I had work.”

“But you promised to meet me at the restaurant. Then you don’t show up and stop answering your phone. Do you ever think how that makes me feel?”

“Goddamnit Ronnie, stop being so clingy and annoying over every stupid thing.”

“ARCHIE ANDREWS! How dare you call me clingy when you were the one literally begged me to be in this company so that you could be closer to me?”

“That was years ago, stop throwing that to my face every time we fight. You know what, you want to move to anywhere else? FINE BY ME!”

With an angry snap the line disconnected leaving Betty almost breathless in witnessing a very private conversation.

Archie called from his office, “Hello? Can you please fix my protein shake for me?”

She hurried to make the shake as per her boss’s instructions. She was amused to see that there are multiple bottles of protein powder stacked inside one of the closed shelves in the office. He gave her directions to find his mug and to the pantry for hot water. His mood was visibly sour from his call with Veronica. But he did not say anything about that until she returned with his shake and handed it to him. He sipped it before turning to her and said, “From next time, please tell her that I’m not in my office whenever she calls.” Her face might have shaped into an o but she nodded obediently. _Who is she to judge their relationship?_

* * *

Jughead was in the middle of his usual afternoon smoking break when his raven-haired friend walked into the smoking zone. She stretched her hand and demanded, “give me a drag, Jones.”

He raised his eyebrows at her, “since when do you share my cigarette?”

“since high school”, she glared at him.

“Ooh…so you are back to being high-school rebel girl instead of the corporate woman?” he quipped but gave her the cigarette. She took a puff before answering, “Well, I can be both.”

“You can’t”, he blew the smoke away from her, “they are in sharp contrast to each other.”

She did not comment. After few moments of silence, he tapped her shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

She exhaled heavily looking at her high school best friend, “Nothing. It’s just…Archie being Archie.”

“Well, I hoped that the very expensive apology worked”, he smirked. She eyed the ring on her left hand absentmindedly, “It did.”

“So, what, you guys are back to being the cuddly couple now?” The sarcastic tone in his voice was not lost on her. She took one last puff before giving it back to him. Blowing the smoke, she looked past the horizon, apparently admiring New York skyline, “It’s easy to forgive, when you want to overlook their mistakes. You won’t understand, Jug. Not until you fall in love.”

“Well, then I sincerely hope that I never do”, the resentment in his voice jerked her. She knew him well enough to understand that he too was mad at Archie for making her suffer. The ghost of a smile was etched on her lips as she thought back to the strong friendship three of them shared. Jughead was like the brother she never had, supporting her, calling on her shit, fighting with her. Archie was always a loyal friend and lovesick for Veronica. She still remembers the day he told her “I love you” for the first time. They were lying beside each other in front of the fireplace in Veronica’s house after a particularly heated make out session. He mumbled the three words into her bare shoulder. She panicked at that moment. She kind of forced him to leave saying her parents would be home any minute. She called Jughead that night, telling him everything. He was on phone with her for hours, talking through the reasons of her panic or inability to say back those words. She was grateful that he supported her through that process which led her to confess her love to Archie three weeks later. Where were those days of innocence gone? When did it all change? Was it college? Or corporate world? Or just time?

She patted him lightly on his back, “You can’t avoid the inevitable. If it’s meant to be, it will be.” As he stared at her retreating back, he sighed. Wondering the same thing in his mind. Three of them were each other’s support system once. None of them hid anything from the other two. Archie and Veronica were hopelessly in love, and happy. He was still brooding and weird but content with his dreams and friends. Where did it all go wrong?

* * *

Betty was about to leave for the day. She looked over her desk one last time before she grabbed her bag. She has already taken note that she needed a couple of framed photographs of her family and friends, well, Kevin. If she is stuck in a cramped office, at least she would try to give it a feeling of home. She liked her first day so far. Her entry was messy but then unexpectedly she got appreciation from Fred Andrews, met two handsome guys as her bosses and spoke to fashion diva Veronica Lodge. Their exchange could not really be classified as speaking but it’s a start. She smiled to herself as she gently pushed open her office door only to find a half-naked woman sitting on top of her boss who is sitting on the leather sofa in guest seating area, legs spread. Terrified to walk on them for the second time in a day, she simply slipped back to her cabin, closing the door swiftly. She sat again in front of her desktop, starting it up as she checked her personal email, responded to a few job openings, googled about the space news, solved mathematical puzzles online for hours. She could not dare to peek through the door again. If the faint sounds coming from outside her cabin is indication of anything, they were still enjoying themselves. She did not know how much time passed before she drifted off to sleep, head resting on her table.

A loud noise made her jump and hit her head on the back wall. She blinked furiously to rub off the sleep from her eyes. There was a tall figure leaning against the doorframe. His messy hair hanging over his eyes just like the morning. If anything, he looked more worn out.

“Betty. Are you alright there?” he asked, in a concerned voice. She winced at the stiffness of her shoulders from the weird posture she was napping in.

“I…I’m fine.” She glanced at her wrist to see it’s already ten at night. _Shit_. She hurried to get out of the office mumbling thanks to Jughead who was still looking at her wearily. She suddenly became hyper-aware of the confines of her small cabin and his clear blue eyes. Her breathing quickened at their close proximity as she tried to get past him to go through the door. He quietly switched off the lights in her cabin after she went out and closed the door. As they walked out of Archie’s office, he did the same. She kept apologizing for sleeping in office while they walked into the elevator. He shook his head in a gesture to stop her, “It’s fine. Really.” She insisted, “No. I was leaving on time but…” She stopped abruptly unsure how to proceed with that story. Is it appropriate to mention that she did not want to walk on her boss’s make out session _again_? But he looked thoroughly uninterested in the details anyways. Of course, he is, Betty thought. Probably he was eager to get home to his beautiful girlfriend, or wife. Is he married? She realized how little she knows about him. But before she had any chance to ask a question, and probably humiliate herself in front of one of her new bosses, the elevator stopped. He stepped out of the lift without sparing another glance at her. Which was very expected and familiar to Betty but it still stung a little.

* * *

Jughead stayed later in office than usual, caught up in all the proposals from different suppliers. He was not the one who is a good judge of fabric, someone from production team would do that. But he was going through the quotations. He would have preferred going over them with Archie as his choice would make a big difference as the chairman. But Archie already left. Probably with some woman as per his last text, “code DND” which was basically a code for Archie hooking up with some hot girl and Jughead making excuses to Veronica for his unavailability. He hated to play this part. Veronica was like his sibling. He missed Jellybean a lot less during his high school years because Veronica was there. They fought and insulted each other a lot but they always had each other’s backs. But torn between Archie and Veronica, he had to shield his best friend first time it happened. Archie promised that it was a mistake. But it became a pattern soon. Now, he simply feels trapped. Trapped in the complicated reality with a guy whom he owes half his life to and a girl whom he loves like a sister.

He went to Archie’s office to pick up some files he left there earlier when he noticed that the light in the antechamber is on. He opened the door to find a sleeping Betty. She looked adorable with her mouth slightly open, peaceful in her slumber. He smiled affectionately at her and waited for a minute before tapping loudly on the door pane. She was jolted awake. He admired her blank face as she blinked repeatedly. She tried to explain herself as they were in the elevator but he could not really concentrate on that. He was angry with Archie for the way he was treating Veronica, disgusted with himself for the part he had to play in that game, worried for Veronica’s future and scared to death with these new soft feelings that was blooming in his chest for Betty. He had no intention to drag anyone to his life’s mess. Certainly not an innocent and pure soul like Betty Cooper. As soon as they reached ground floor, he hurried outside without wishing her goodnight. The more distance he can put between them the better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Soooo I'm back with another chapter. This is a little more conversational and gives more background to their lives.   
> I have updated the tags. Please check them before you read.  
> Hope, you enjoy it :)

Betty had a favourite flower shop, near her old apartment. The one that she shared with Kevin. It was not far from her new apartment building though. When Kevin and Fangs decided to start living together, he offered to move out. But she insisted that they keep the apartment. She would not have been able to afford the rent for a two bedroom anyways. She moved out but still strolls through her old street many weekends just to visit that flower shop and a small and cosy book shop. An old European woman manages the flower shop. She always has the best flowers in her store. Betty loves Sunflowers. They brighten her day. As a child, her father once drove the family to a Sunflower farm just outside Riverdale. They enjoyed the tour of the farm very much. The flowers were in full bloom. She was fascinated with the colour and cheerfulness of that flower since then.

On her second day to office she decided to buy a bunch of flowers remembering the empty vase in Chairman’s office. She wanted a bunch of Sunflowers, they would add to the vibrant spirit of that space. But it’s not the season for that. So, she thought of buying lilies instead.

Mia, the shop owner, greeted her with a toothy grin. She waited patiently as Mia prepared the bunch for her with usual skill. Her whole day already seemed a lot brighter than the previous day.

She reached office before nine. Maria was at her place. She gave Betty a familiar smile and handed her the permanent employee badge. Once again, she felt excited that it was real. She had a real job. Her boss was not in his office. She put the flowers in water and placed the vase in the middle of the big table. Then, she looked at her handiwork appreciatively for some time before going back to her own office. Today she brought two photo frames to decorate her work table. One has her whole family, her parents, Polly and Chic. It was taken on Chic’s graduation day. Polly was already in high school and she was just finishing her middle school then. Another photo is with Kevin on the day she received her college degree. It was such a happy day. For the first and last time she went to a bar with her best friend and drank till she was almost unconscious. She smiled softly remembering the next day hungover and how she promised not to drink ever again.

She started her day with making a calendar for Archie’s appointments. There were dozens of emails from different people with the request for meetings. Half of them she did not know. So, she had to search about them to understand which meetings would be urgent and which are not. She was halfway through the meeting requests when her desk phone rang and startled her again. She does not know when she is going to get habituated to the loud sound.

“Hello, Andrews Fashion House, Archie Andrews’s office.”

“I know”, there was a chuckle at the other end and she immediately recognized the caller.

“J…Jughead.” she breathed.

His amused voice rang through the receiver, “Good Morning, Betty. Is Archie in?”

“M…morning. No, he’s not in yet. Do you want me to take a message?” she does not have any idea how this assistant thing works except from her experience with watching The Office multiple times.

He sighed on the other end, “Just…please tell him to call me once he’s in.” Before she could respond, the line went dead. Was she taking too much time to respond? Or was he simply not interested wasting time talking to her?

* * *

Jughead was reading his copy of ‘In Cold Blood’ for probably the millionth time when the doorbell rang. He frowned at the wall clock. It was almost eleven at night. He came back late from office and was tired from all day’s work. But he never goes to bed without reading for at least an hour. And he always has been a night owl. His doorbell rang again, this time followed by a loud impatient knock. He knew at once who was at the door. He was dreading this visit from the time he received Archie’s message. He put his phone on silent after that, refusing to receive any calls. He is a good liar when it comes to hiding his own feelings. But he was not comfortable lying to a person who he cares for. Sighing, he went to answer the door. A very dishevelled Veronica was there as he expected. She waved her phone in front of his face before pushing him back and entering into the apartment. He ran his hand over his face, “yeah sure, please come in.”

She glared at him, “Twenty times, Jug. I called you twenty times. Where were you?”

“I was reading. What is this about?” he tried to sound nonchalant.

“Do you know where Archie is?” she did not sound angry but something in her voice told him that he was going to get into trouble.

He chose the safest answer, “I have no idea.” It was not a complete lie. He did not know where Archie was. But he omitted the part about the probability of him being with any woman.

“Okay. Explain this to me”, she played a recording. The sound of moaning filled his apartment.

He winced in shock, “What the fuck?”

She threw her phone on his couch in frustration. Her glistening eyes started to threaten a full break in the dam. He did not anticipate this turn of events. Slowly, in low voice she spoke, “I got a call from Archie’s number. I was pissed at him for earlier so I did not receive it. This is what got recorded in the voice message. For god’s sake, tell me Jug, is he fucking with another woman?”

He swallowed hard. How is he supposed to look her in the eyes and answer the question? Instead, he offered in weak voice, “you don’t know that. He might be…just watching porn.”

She looked at him in disbelief, “Porn? Really? Are we in high school?”

He could not meet her gaze. He knew that she has seen Archie flirt with every beautiful woman in his circle. But she has never had any proof of him sleeping with other women. Neither did he. He intentionally shut himself out from that reality where Archie’s “hook-up”s meant something more than drink, flirting and maybe a little make out session. She is an intelligent woman. He hoped that she would understand what his silence means. But he also knew when it comes to Archie, Veronica chooses to play dumb, ignoring thousand signs. Without warning, the raven-haired girl broke into tears, biting her lower lip, trying to stop desperately. But she could not. She grabbed his arm and buried her face in his chest, silent tears soaking through the soft fabric of his t-shirt. It seemed like she was trying to hide her breakdown from the outside world that is used to see her as a strong woman. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling helpless and angry.

“What’s my fault? What did I do wrong?” she asked sipping the water that he got for her from kitchen. She sounded so defeated. He hated himself for that.

He gripped her shoulders tightly, “it’s not your fault, Ronnie. Do you hear me? It’s not your goddamn fault.”

She took another sip, “I…I just love him so much. I don’t know how to make him happy anymore.”

He plopped down on the couch. Combing his fingers through his hair, “Do you? Do you love him or the version of him that does not exist any longer?”

She looked pointedly at him, “if that version does not exist, why do you try to cover his ass always? Whom are you trying to protect?”

“It’s different”, he shook his head. Knowing full well in his heart that it was not different at all. They were trapped in the illusion of Archie Andrews who was a ghost from the past. But they both believed that he existed somewhere deep down and they would find him again. He could not admit that to Veronica though, “I have some unpayable debt to him, Ronnie. You don’t.”

“That’s bullshit, Jug”, she rose to her feet, placing the glass on centre table with more force than required, “you and I both know that you do it for the same reason as mine.”

He hated to interfere in his friends’ personal lives. But it was getting out of hand. Archie needs to be reminded of who he is. He knew that Archie had his own insecurities to deal with. He knew what your insecurities could do to you, how far you could go to seek approval in wrong places to prove your worth. But Archie had all of them to support him, he should not behave like the testosterone-driven clueless college senior anymore. Veronica was not someone you want to take for granted. She loves Archie with all her heart, but the day her patience breaks, she would leave and never look back. Archie needs to prove his loyalty and love once again before that happens. He believed that his best friend was living in some sort of fantasy bubble. Maybe it was a side effect of his certain college friends or the new chairmanship. Whatever it was, it has to end. He will not give up on the boy who refused to attend college without Jughead, who willingly wasted two years of his life because Jughead was in a mess.

He reaches office everyday by nine in the morning. It feels better when he can finish his work and just be back in his lonely apartment early for some peaceful reading. Today the first thing he did when he reached his office was to call Archie’s desk. His phone is switched off since last night, after that scandalous voice message incident. A sweet and warm voice greeted him. He relaxed at once. He could imagine her big green eyes widen as she spoke. Archie was not in which was not surprising at all. But he felt restless. He was determined to talk to him today, whenever he comes to office.

* * *

Betty finished separating the appointments and other requests which seemed not urgent. She talked to Ethel a few times to recheck if she was prioritizing them correctly. The girl sounded quite impressed with her work. She felt relieved. She could not afford to lose this job because of some slip-up in scheduling meetings. Sounds from the main office indicated that Archie was in. She hurried out with her notebook in hand. The red head was settling himself comfortably on his chair when Betty appeared. He replied to her good morning with a charming smile that made her knees weak. She thought to bring up Jughead’s call before she gave him the day’s schedule.

“I have your meeting schedules here. But Jughead called and it sounded urgent, so that would be the first thing in the list,” she shuffled uncomfortably on her feet.

Archie’s whole expression changed. A mild scowl setting on his face. His tone was thoroughly uninterested when he spoke, “he always sounds urgent. I will talk to him later. What are other plans for today?”

She hoped that he would notice the fresh flowers and appreciate. He did not. She read out the list of meetings. A meet with a vendor was scheduled for his 10:30, he did not comment, she kept on reading. When it came to a late afternoon meet with the bank manager, he interrupted her saying, “Did you check with Jughead?”

She was confused, “No. Should I?”

Her boss nodded, “Yeah. He takes care of the financial meetings. If it’s bank or any other investor, please talk to him.” She wrote the information down. The phone on Archie’s desk rang. She hesitated a little whether she should go back to her office to answer it or answer it here. She grabbed the receiver there only, feeling the sound starting to get on her nerves. Archie’s 10:30 appointment was already there. She briefed him about the agenda quickly.

Her morning passed like that. Calling the reception to check for the meeting party, welcoming them inside office and making both parties comfortable during meeting. She stayed alert whole time. There was no request for lunch meet. Then again there were meetings in the afternoon. She also needed to check with Jughead about the late afternoon meeting. As soon as it was half past twelve and the last visitor of the morning was gone, Archie slumped back in his chair, eyes closed.

There was a knock on the office door, Betty rushed to open it to see Jughead standing outside. He barely looked at her, “Is your boss in now?” Before she could reply, he pushed her aside and stormed in. She wanted to talk to him, inform about the session with bank manager, ask if he was available at that time. But he did not even look at her. Archie adjusted himself on the seat uncomfortably. The look on her boss’s face was not missed by Betty. It was a mix of uneasiness and maybe a little guilt. Jughead fixed his gaze on Archie while talking to her, “Betty, why don’t you go for your lunch break?” She looked at the red head who nodded in confirmation. She left them in the office and closed the door behind her.

* * *

It was few minutes of awkward silence alone with his friend. He started to think how they became like this from being practically brothers. If it were their sophomore year, he would have punched Archie by now, shouting at him. But now, it was just deafening silence. Archie broke it saying an awkward “hi”. His grip on the back of chair tightened, “What are you doing Archie?” His friend tried to act cool, “what do you mean?” He could look right through his façade.

“I mean with Veronica, with your chairmanship, with your life.”

“Are you here to lecture me on my lifestyle?” Heat was evident in Archie’s voice.

He inhaled sharply. His head already started throbbing. Pinching the bridge of his nose with thumb and index finger, he closed his eyes. This is not working. This was not how it was supposed to be.

“Do you love Veronica?” he tried again. This time his friend appeared to be a little ashamed, maybe, “from where is this coming?”

“What did you think would be her reaction after listening to your little sex recording?”

“Wait…what?” Archie looked visibly terrified. Jughead described last night thoroughly. By the time he finished, Archie’s whole face changed colour to match his hairs. He was frantically going through his call logs, “Shit. Shit. Shit. What did you tell her?”

“You mean about your sexcapade?” he raised one eyebrow in question.

Archie’s face fell, “you told her?”

“No Archie. I did not tell her. But she has more than enough brain cells to work out the meaning of moaning sound in her fiancée’s voice message.” He did not try to hide the irritation in his voice. 

“I will talk to her”, Archie promised in such a feeble voice that he suspected if Archie himself believed that.

“That still does not answer my question. Why are you doing this?” he was insistent to get to the end of it today.

“I…we…I’m so young. I just want to enjoy my life without thinking about all these duties right now”, his friend defended weakly.

He was dumbfounded. Archie was never the one running away from responsibilities. He was about to drag a chair and continue the conversation when the office door was thrown open revealing a tall and sturdy figure with ebony hair. He sighed visibly. If his day was bad, now it got thousand times worse by the smug face of Bret Weston Wallis. If he could make a hit-list with Archie’s douchebag college friends, Bret’s name would be on top of the list. He was a privileged rich kid who never in his life had to work for a single day. But he still noticed how Archie’s face flushed with relief.

“Well, well, well, if it’s not FP Jones the third”, Bret took a few steps forward. Jughead bolted upright. He never knew under which circumstances Archie revealed his identity to his college friends, he supposed that it was classic Archie Andrews drunk ramblings, but Bret and Chuck never failed to take the opportunity after that. He gritted his teeth for a snappy comeback but then checked himself. There was no point wasting any time on Bret. Or Archie, right now. Clearly, these two already had plans. He looked between the two of them and left Archie’s office quietly.

Bret was the one who dragged Archie to a strip club and hooked him up with a girl for the first time in college. It was end of his sixth semester. He was miserable that day after finding out that he failed a class. He was never the brightest student. He also knew that business management was not his strong area. Nonetheless, it hurt. Veronica already finished college being at the top of her class. Jughead was doing really well in his courses. Academics was one area where he could not share his failure with his closest friends. He felt worthless and Bret promised to cheer him up. That was the first ever incident of drunk sex in Archie’s life. He drove to meet his girlfriend next morning and confessed everything. When his word vomit finished with desperate apologies, Veronica simply kissed him, saying she loved her innocent and honest boyfriend.

It happened again when he decided to dropout from college in his final year. He had an intense argument with his father about that. Fred Andrews was never the one raising his voice. But that day he was a little on the edge with Archie’s lack of judgement. His father just wanted him to finish college and take the degree. He went to a bar with Bret and Chuck and ended up in a dingy motel room with a girl on his side and without any recollection of previous night. This time he did not go to his girlfriend, rather to his best friend, who agreed to keep his secret when he told that it was a mistake. But then it started. He could not stop himself. When he was with Bret and Chuck, he felt empowered. They encouraged his wildness. He had the chance to be reckless without any judgement. No one reminding him of a test next day or his loyal girlfriend or the impending responsibility of managing a company. He always had his way with women, he was always good at making new friends, but he never took advantage of that before. _What’s life without a little fun_ , his college friends said. He knew that Jughead and Veronica would have his back no matter what, so he did not mind the occasional fighting with them. And that’s how it went on. The never-ending series of partying, drinking, sex, running away from his childhood friends. Maybe from himself too.

* * *

Betty was enjoying her lunch in the same window side booth when she was interrupted by her co-workers. As she spotted the familiar face of Fangs among them, a huge smile broke into her face. She wanted to make friends, but she was not comfortable talking to absolute strangers. Fangs was accompanied by two other girls. One was Ethel and other one was a short girl with brown hair. Fangs gave her a big hug and introduced to the short girl, Midge, who was working in Finance department. Ethel smiled and asked if they could join her. Betty was very happy to have company for lunch. They chatted whole time. Fangs making occasional jokes about the Summer Collection he was working on. He demanded that it was his best work so far only to get scolding from Ethel, “You say that for every collection, Fogarty.”

He snorted, “what can I say if I outdo myself every time?”

Their conversation took turn to Betty’s job. Midge asked excitedly, “I heard Jughead hired you on spot. You must be very good with numbers.” She smiled at the memory.

Ethel nodded, “Oh. She was very good. Jughead looked impressed.”

“It’s hard to impress him”, Midge confirmed. They bugged her to know what Archie is like as a boss. Midge whispered, “He’s a charming asshole. Does he flirt with you, Betty?” She laughed and waved her off. _Why on earth would a guy like Archie Andrews flirt with her_.

Ethel glared at Midge, “Oh come on. He is sexy but he is like a man-whore.”

Midge exclaimed, “Who cares when he is that hot!!!”

She told them that she was enjoying her work so far. And she was. Then after a little reluctance, she brought up the topic of Archie and Veronica’s fight. All their eyes widened.

“Tell us everything”, Midge whisper shouted.

She was never the one for gossip. It was Kevin’s department. But it was an open secret that the Andrews-Lodge relationship became rocky mainly over past year. Gossip columns were all over it. She briefed the heated phone conversation she overheard without going into details. They listened with utmost interest.

“Oh my God! This is riveting. Do you think they will break up soon?” Ethel inquired.

Midge tapped her fingers on the table, “But they look kinda cute together. I don’t want them to break up.”

“Oh, yeah”, Fangs smirked, “did I tell you my boyfriend came up with a name for the couple? He calls them Varchie.”

All of them broke into laughter. “What is he? Fourteen?” Ethel exclaimed in between their fits of laughter. Fangs and Betty grinned at each other being the closest to Kevin.

Betty replied, “yes, he could behave like a teenager sometimes. No wait… All the times.”

She has always admired the humble nature of Fangs. Even after being the lead designer in a fashion company, he was the one who enjoyed small talks and made everyone around him comfortable. She was thankful to him for today.

* * *

Betty came back to an empty office. Her boss was nowhere to be seen. She freaked out when it was almost the time for his afternoon meetings and he did not appear. She tried reaching his number but it continued going straight to voice mail. In a rush of panic, she sprinted out of Chairman’s office and dashed to the one designated for MD, Finance.

As she stumbled into his room, Jughead exclaimed, “what the…Betty!?” She took a minute to study his office. It was not at all how she imagined. The office was smaller than Archie’s but very neat and clean. It had deep blue carpet on floor. Two sides of the room were covered in glass walls, allowing the area to bathe in sunlight. Another wall had a big shelf, half of it was full with files and papers. Other half was stocked with books, not only finance, but fiction, non-fiction, science and photography journals. The solid walls were also a shade of blue. She could not help but think about the cerulean blue of his eyes matching his office decor. There were no photo frames either on walls or on the table. The table had stacks of files and pen and his laptop.

“Betty. How can I help?” Jughead’s voice broke her haze. She remembered why she rushed here in the first place. His brows furrowed as he listened to her, “Who are the meetings with?” She checked her notebook. One was an interview for a Tabloid, another one with the manager of a model, then the meeting with bank manager. He nodded, “Ask Veronica if she can handle the first two. If not, cancel them. I will manage the last one. Just leave the details on my desk.”

Betty had no idea how she can ask Veronica to attend some meetings that would start in next five minutes. She dawdled, “um… how should I tell Veronica Ma’am?”

He looked up from his file, “You can just knock at her office door. She does not bite generally, but she might, if you don’t knock.” A hint of playful grin appeared on his lips.

She turned beet red remembering she burst into his office without any warning.

She tapped cautiously on Veronica’s office door. Veronica’s voice came, it sounded a bit tired, “come in.” The elegant woman straightened in her seat seeing Betty, “Hello. Betty, is it? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

She felt intimidated by the perfect corporate presence of Veronica Lodge. This woman was so put together. She remembers there was a big news about Hiram Lodge being charged with money emblazoning a couple of years back. The same time Hermione Lodge was arrested for an attempted murder charge. Veronica was asked in an interview if she stood with her father or mother or both. She merely shrugged and replied that she supported neither. So many rumours about her relationship, so much pressure of the job and continuous criticism had no effect on her. She was always sporting a tight-lipped smile, her flawless composure never wavering for a second. Betty can’t even start thinking about such a demanding life. Sometimes, she thought, was Veronica really that much unaffected by her surroundings? Does she ever need to cry?

As she explained the situation, Veronica’s expression hardened for few moments before she regained her poise.

“Okay”, she said in a calm voice, “I will take care of the first two meetings. Thanks Betty.”

Archie came back late. Veronica already finished her meetings by then. Jughead was in the middle of his meeting. Archie seemed quite pleased with Betty figuring out a solution by herself. She felt her cheeks turn red under his approving gaze. But she knew that if it were not for Jughead she would have had no idea what to do, he was a really helpful person. The day ended peacefully. Archie left office on time. Betty organized some tasks for next day and left around six happily. She stopped at the front gate. It was snowing outside. She looked back at the lobby. She loved snow. She covered her head with jacket hood and walked into the snow. It just started falling, the ground is still not covered much. She spread her hands and turned her face upwards with closed eyes. Snowflakes hit lightly on her cheeks. Her jacket hood slipped back, exposing her hair. She was reminded of her childhood. It snowed heavily in Riverdale every winter. They never missed a chance of making snowman in their front lawn. Chic would label it as “childish” before starting to throw snow balls at his sisters. They all would screech and scream until their voices break. Polly would click pictures to post in their school group. Polly was the popular girl in school. She was just “Polly Cooper’s nerdy sister”. Chic also was unpopular but he made the football team in junior year. His whole personality changed from good boy to a jock after that. She missed her siblings and parents. Polly never completed her graduation. She got pregnant with her high school boyfriend’s kid at the age of seventeen. Steve did not want to take the responsibility. Polly was devastated. It was a disaster. But with time and their family’s support, she learnt to survive. Her daughter Maddison was born. Then Jason came to her life. They fell in love. Jason got himself a job in Nassau County. They got married two years back. Last year, they became parents of twins. Now, her sister was happy. She could hear it in her voice whenever they talk. They all met last Thanksgiving. Her dad’s health was not keeping well. So, Chic decided to go back to Riverdale and help their mother with the newspaper. She liked Chic’s boyfriend, Charles. Polly and Jason came with their children. They all got into a mock fight about the twins’ names. She scoffed at her sister and brother-in-law for the weird names of the twins, Juniper and Dagwood. Chic also rolled his eyes.

“Why would you give them such horrible names?” their mother cried. But Polly and Jason were adamant that those names were beautiful and little Maddie agreed with them very enthusiastically. She almost smiled at that memory.

* * *

Jughead was worried after his meeting with the bank. Their last quarter sales records have not met the expectation. They are not at loss yet, but the profit is merely marginal. He tried his best to convince the manager to approve their pending loan, reminding him about long ten years of relationship with them. He knew that this time the loan would be approved but he was concerned for the next collection launch.

Lost in his thoughts he left for the day and stopped seeing the snow fall. He remembered playing with snow in Archie’s backyard when they were little. Jellybean also joined them one time. She was only four. The whole time she clung to his leg. Andrew’s Fashion House was just a small name back then. They worked mainly as distributor company for different clothing brands. They did not have their own clothing line. He could not remember if his father was still a part of the company at that time, or already left. Sometimes he thinks there are so many if-s in every turn of life. One different decision and your life could be totally changed. What if his father never left the company? What if his father’s own business flourished as he expected? What if his mother never left the house? What if he never gone for the prep school in senior year? He shook his head. There’s no point dwelling on the past as his therapist said. He needs to move on. How the hell one is supposed to move on from lifelong scars, he does not know. Now, when something good starts happening, he gets terrified that it will be followed by another traumatic event.

He patted his bike seat to get rid of the snowflakes. Then he saw her. She was at the end of the parking lot, near entrance gate. Hands spread like she was flying. Eyes closed, a bright smile on her lips, snowflakes falling on her open palms, pink cheeks, golden hair. She seemed ethereal in the backdrop of white, like a dream. Untouchable and fragile. Like she would disappear if he gets any closer. He missed his camera instantly.

He does not like Fridays unlike every other corporate employee. Actually, he has nothing against Friday but it’s the dread of weekend that keeps him from liking Fridays. There was a time when he looked forward to those Sunday dinners. Everybody knows Fred Andrews is an amazing chef and Mary is a perfect host. There would be new food items every Sunday and Fred would look particularly for Jughead’s feedback. He knows his appetite and taste. But now, Andrews dining hall suffocates him. Fred and Mary would try to fill the silence created from Archie and Veronica’s cold war. None of them would open their mouth to avoid arguments. Also, there are the Saturdays when he would receive a call from Ohio State Penitentiary. He would never accept the charges, he is not ready to hear that voice yet, but the call would disturb him nonetheless. Yes, even after eight fucking years, the call would drag his mind back to court room, and everything that preceded and followed that trial.

While driving to office, he decided to go to Toledo for the weekend. Jellybean is now allowed for supervised outings. Her violent episodes have not occurred for past year. But he does not know if being back in Toledo would trigger them again. It’s better to visit her on Saturday morning and head for Toledo alone.

Something was different in his chamber. He could not put his finger on it at first. But then, the bunch of bright lilies on his table caught his eyes. These are the same kind of lilies that he spotted in Archie’s office the previous day. He wanted to enjoy the gesture but memories won’t leave him alone. _Anything nice will definitely end up in something that will hurt like hell._

He grabbed the receiver of the phone on his desk. Betty’s soothing voice came through, “Good Morning. Archie Andrews’s office.”

He felt his morning becoming a little brighter. Tensions for coming weekend melting away from his mind.

“Um…Betty. Thanks for the flowers. It was very nice of you. But…” he trailed off. _But I’m scared of nice gestures? But I short-circuit when people do nice things for me because I’m weird like that? But I’m afraid that if you keep doing nice things to me, my stupid feelings will never go away?_

How to even put his thoughts into words without hurting her? He finally settled for some safe reason, “…you didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh. But I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday”, her cheery tone did not make it any better.

“Just…don’t do that again, please.” He disconnected the line. _Wow, really smooth. Did not hurt her at all._ He banged his head loudly on the table top.

* * *

Betty sat on her desk speechless. All she wanted to do was thank him. He was really supportive to her the day before. Her mood was lifted at his voice at first, knowing that he noticed the flowers and understood they were from her. But why did he say not to do that again? Was he angry? He did not sound angry though. If anything, somewhat embarrassed. Maybe he did not like the fact that she was in his office while he was away? Was it unprofessional for her to thank him with flowers? Her eyes prickled with tears. The happy mood from morning gone. It was her first weekend as a full-time employed woman. She made plans with Kevin and Fangs on Saturday evening to enjoy it. She was looking forward to a good Friday. But the first call for the day ruined everything. She blinked back her tears and started working.

* * *

Her lunch time has changed a little to match with her new friends. Fangs does not join them every day but the three girls have fallen into an easy friendship. Midge keeps crushing on new guys every week. Ethel never gets tired of talking about her boyfriend, Dilton. Betty keeps silent most of the time just listening to them. Ethel sometimes try to educate her about sophisticated makeups. Midge demands that she should keep her hair down. She enjoys the girl time. She never had girlfriends except Polly. Even her college dormmate was too much different than her and she was always occupied with her studies. So, they never really bonded.

Weeks passed in blink of an eye and it was her salary day. To say she was excited about it is an understatement. She could not wait to visit the bookshop for new books, send money for home. She has been browsing bookshelves online for days now. Maybe, she would be able to buy one finally. Her work revolves around fixing Archie’s daily schedule, briefing to him about everyone who he is going to meet and talk to, fulfilling his occasional requests of confirming reservations for lunch/dinner, getting beverages. Her social life has not changed much but Midge keeps insisting her to go on double dates with her. She somehow resisted that till now. But she does not how much more she can do that. She was twirling her pen in two fingers and contemplating about Midge’s offer.

Should she give a chance to herself? She knows that guys are not generally attracted to her. But if she goes for a double date, maybe that guy would be interested after knowing her. Her reverie broke with loud noises from Archie’s office. The walls of her chamber are really thin and her door was open a little. She tiptoed to the door to close it. She loves a little gossip with her girlfriends now, but she still had no intention of eavesdropping. Her legs stopped moving as she spotted all three of her bosses in a very agitated state. She heard every word of the argument loud and clear as she saw the expressions on their faces changing.

* * *

“What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you keep insisting on the fabrics from Browns?” Veronica was not her natural calm self.

“Wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? You don’t trust my judgement? Tell that to my face. Tell me you don’t think I deserve the chairmanship.”

“Arch, calm down.”

“No. I won’t. You two keep acting like I’m no good for the job. Well, I am the Chairman and my decision is final.”

“Does this have anything to do with your little romance with Valerie Brown?” Veronica’s voice was ice cold. Both men’s heads snapped towards her.

Archie stuttered, “W…what are you implying?”

“Can we focus on the current problem?” Jughead cried with frustration. He was unable to understand how his best friend could be so naïve and so arrogant at the same time. Brown’s fabrics never met the quality requirements in past. But Archie is adamant to approve their bid because they proposed the lowest cost and Archie wanted to make maximum profit for next collection. Veronica refused to Archie’s proposal with simple fact that the fabric is of the worst quality and company’s reputation will be at stake. Jughead tried to reason that if they go for higher budget in order to maintain quality the risk factor will be low rather than compromising quality to manage budget. They could reduce the budget elsewhere. At this point, he also was certain that Valerie Brown had something to do with Archie’s obsession. But he really cannot get into an argument regarding that right now.

“There’s no problem. I’m approving Brown’s bid.” Archie concluded with the same stubbornness he was showing since the start of this conversation. They had a small meeting today to finalize the fabric supplier for their Summer Collection. Fangs is progressing smoothly on his design, it was time for actual production to start. Only active members of board of directors gathered for a quick discussion. Archie proposed Brown’s name without really considering any other alternative. The argument started between his two friends since then. Head of production, Ms. Grundy was also present in the meeting. She should have had some opinion on the quality of fabric. But she was too busy eye-fucking Archie. So, Jughead had only two options. Support Veronica and fight with Archie or drag Fangs from his peaceful creative abode and ask his opinion. He was sure that Fangs would fight tooth and nail against the idea of his precious collection getting ruined by low quality fabric. As a designer he should have his say. But he could not bring himself to force the poor artistic mind to be involved in this purely materialistic argument. He knows how business and art could clash with each other. He feels it every day in his life.

“You might be the Chairman, Archie Andrews. But you don’t own this company alone. We all are board members and we all are entitled to give our opinions.” Veronica was visibly quivering with anger.

Jughead exhaled, he hates to take sides, “She is right. I think we should call a full board meeting and decide by voting.”

“Really, Jug?” Archie looked furious. He yelled at him, “you are with _her_ now? Did you forget I delayed my college education for you? fought with the jocks every week to save your ass in high school? Hell, I saved you when you almost took your own life.”

Every trace of colour was gone from Jughead’s face. His palms curled in fists, teeth sinking into the bottom lip. Archie gasped as soon as he spat the last words at his best friend. He moved closer to him, “I…I did not mean that.” Jughead did not move. Veronica was looking at Archie with an expression mixed of horror and disbelief. Archie tried to touch Jughead’s hand but he flinched and took a few steps backwards.

“You are right. I owe you. I owe my whole fucking life to you”, his voice was dangerously low but clear. He kept walking back until he reached the door knob and slammed the door on his way out.

* * *

Veronica’s jaws clenched as she turned to her fiancée, “Hitting below the belt now, are we?” Disdain and repulsion evident in her voice.

“Ronnie, please”, Archie pleaded. “I did not mean that. You know, I did not.”

“I don’t know you anymore, Archie” she looked at him with an unreadable expression before walking out of the door in a steady pace.

Betty stood frozen at her office door. Her mind running thousand miles per minute. The hurt in Jughead’s eyes broke her heart. She wanted to run up to him and tell that it was okay. But of course, she could not. She had an idea of the pain that prompts people to take their own lives. Her sister tried to slit her wrist when she first found out that she was pregnant and her boyfriend refused to take any responsibility. Polly needed therapy and her family’s support to come out of that depression. She never saw Jughead so vulnerable. She never saw Veronica so crushed. And she never saw Archie so shattered. It was not something like a lover’s spat. It was much more personal. Much more sensitive. She felt like an intruder prying in their private lives. But she vowed to herself to take their secret to her grave.

She slowly padded back to her seat after Veronica left. She had a feeling that she should cancel all afternoon meetings. But she is not entitled to make that decision on her own. After what seemed like an acceptable time to recover from that conversation, she entered her boss’s office. Archie’s forehead was pressed on the table. Hands clutching a stress ball. She coughed a little to announce her presence. Archie looked up, his eyes red and puffy, voice raspy, “Yes?” She started, “Do you want me to cancel your appointment with…”

“Please cancel all my appointments”, Archie stood up abruptly, running his hand over his face, “I’m leaving for the day.”

* * *

Jughead did not know where he was going. His feet brought him to the smoking zone. The area was empty thankfully. He lit his cigarette and started taking long drags. His breathing was still heavy. Tears don’t come easily for him, even now his eyes were dry. But his vision was blurry, just like his thoughts were in whirlwind. Thousands of splitting images were rushing through his mind at once.

The small two-bedroom apartment. Empty and cold. A note on his bed, beside his pillow, “I’m sorry, Jug. I had to leave. I’m taking JB. But I will call you. – Mom.”

Their old landlord shouting and throwing all their furniture on the road. Three months’ rent was pending.

Archie dragging him to his home, his eyes widened, demanding, “why did not you tell me sooner?”

His belongings stacked into janitor’s closet in middle school. He was taking bath in boys shower room. Archie’s head popped, “Jug, why are you here?”

He fell asleep on the couch of their crappy trailer. No food at home. FP did not come home for one whole week. Fred and Archie knocked on the door with a big box of burger, fries and milkshakes.

Jellybean was screaming at the dead of night waking up with her regular nightmare. He wrapped her in his arms, trying to soothe her. Her whole body shaking, her face buried in his chest. Archie came with a glass of hot chocolate.

FP’s trial was over. He did not shed a single tear during the whole process. But as soon as his father was taken away for lifetime without parole, something inside him broke. The whole world felt empty, like he was surviving just for this trial. Now, he had no purpose in life. Archie gripped his shoulders tightly, “It’s over, Jug. You did it.”

A razor blade in his hands, his trembling fingers hovering over his left wrist. Archie kicked the bathroom door open, “You have to live Jug. Live for JB. Live for me.”

Yes. He owed his life to Archie Andrews. 

* * *

He sat still in the graveyard. It was a lovely afternoon. The time when golden red of the sky is slowly merging into the magic light of dusk. A few people were there, paying respect to their loved ones. An old woman was crying in front of a grave. He never feels any emotion when he comes here. He simply sits for a long time, feeling empty. He does not even know how one should feel for their dead mother who abandoned them when they were thirteen. He never hated her, that is for sure. But he thought in so many sleepless nights what was his fault, he was a clueless teenager who dreaded the alone nights. From that desperation only, he tried to love FP, tried to earn his validation. But after he understood that pleasing FP meant joining a gruesome gang, he gave up. When his mother contacted him again, he was already in high school. But it was more than that. He already learnt to survive alone. He had abandonment issue rooted in his heart, but he learnt to live with that. Now when he thinks back, he should not have fallen for the dream of a happy family again. But being able to talk to his mother, holding his sister close, sharing his dreams with someone from his actual family felt too tempting to refuse. Destiny also gave all the positive signs. He cringes at the thought. He never believed in destiny. But somehow, he believed that the chance of admission in Stonewall Prep was a sign for him to move to Toledo, with his family, away from his father’s dangerous gang. Veronica and Archie were heartbroken that he would not be around for the Senior year, but they were proud of him. Hell, he was proud of himself. Stonewall Prep was one of the best prep schools for literature and creative writing. He exhales heavily. Everything was good. Prefect even. He was struggling to match up to the elitist environment at his new school, but the weekends were there to make him smile. His mom was never very affectionate towards any of her kids, but those weekends were different. She baked cookies, she sang and danced with JB, she even watched JB’s favourite romcoms with them. And, his sister. Oh, he would never forget how happy she was. He has seen her in her happiest mood on those days. She would fight with him, blackmail him into some activity of her choice and share her ice cream with him when he finished his own too soon. He should have known that nothing good ever lasts in Jones luck.

He did not notice when it became dark. He ran his hand on the grave absentmindedly, “I’m sorry Mom. I’m sorry for everything. I hope you are happy, wherever you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Archie is still an ass. (Just to be clear, I did not try to justify Archie's actions. His POV was to give an idea of how it all started.)  
> 2\. Betty found some new friends.  
> 3\. Jug needs to work on his self-deprecation issues


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the third part. Hope you enjoy it.  
> Thank you all who left comment/kudos for this story so far. Please let me know your thoughts about this chapter also.  
> Oh and I am not sure if there is a Photography major program in Yale. But let's just pretend, there is. okay? Thank you :)

_“All the world's a stage,_

_And all the men and women merely players:_

_They have their exits and their entrances;_

_And one man in his time plays many parts.” - As You Like It, William Shakespeare_

Betty noticed the whole office buzzing with anticipation and energy as soon as she entered the reception. She threw a questioning glance at Maria, swiping her badge for attendance. The bubbly girl informed her enthusiastically that it was the photo shoot day, famous model Josie McCoy was scheduled to come for the shoot. She patted her forehead lightly. How could she forget that? Her boss instructed her to cancel all engagements for the day. It was a big day for the company. She was expected to follow her boss around for the photo shoot. Their Summer Collection launch date is coming soon. She has seen Veronica flying all over the office for past few days, arranging press conferences, giving bites to fashion channels, preparing for the photo shoot.

More than a month passed since she heard the confrontation between her bosses. Everything seems normal now, at least on the surface. Everyone is engrossed in their daily schedules. She has not witnessed any argument or awkward conversations during this time. As promised to herself, she never talked about the day to anyone. Not even to her journal.

Today was a grand event. She felt truly happy to be in this company for the first time. She had seen Josie’s poster so many times, she could not believe that she would see her in person today. As soon as she logged into her machine, her desk phone rang. It was Midge. The girl was sounding over the moon, “Josie McCoy, Betty. _The_ Josie McCoy. Oh my God! Come meet me in the photo shoot area.”

“What? Already?” she was confused. She had an idea that the supermodel would come after lunch. But Midge screeched through the receiver, “Yes Betty. Now. The shoot will start in an hour.” She sighed and locked her machine again. There was not much work for her considering her boss would be at the photo shoot whole day. So, she combed her hair and re-did her ponytail, looked herself in the mirror and applied her pink lip gloss one more time. Then, tugging nervously at her sweater sleeves, she headed for the photo shoot.

******************************************************************************************************************************************

The area was busy like a movie set. Lights were set everywhere. Fangs was giving his associates last moment instructions, which dress was customized for which model, what should be the accessories. Josie was nowhere to be seen, neither were any of her bosses. She saw only Ms. Grundy sitting lazily in one corner, eyes glued to her mobile. But she did not have to wait much before Midge came almost running, excited. She was with two of her colleagues from her department, Ben and Rick. Both the boys looked at Betty with an expression of amusement. Rick blurted out, “You don’t look like someone working in Fashion industry, Betty.” She was becoming familiar with this greeting quickly. But still it was not very comforting. Midge elbowed the guy and glared at him. Then she grabbed Betty’s hand to go find a spot from where they can watch the event.

“Save one space for Ethel”, she instructed.

“Where is she?” Betty asked, looking around.

“Oh, she is super busy today, helping Veronica Ma’am.”

Betty saw one pink haired woman. She was petite but had the perfect figure in her small frame. Betty was amazed at her attitude. She was so comfortable with every member of the setup crew, but also everyone obeyed her authority. She saw Jughead entering with two coffee mugs and a genuine smile. The smile that was very rare on him. She could tell that he was really comfortable with this woman the way they fist bumped and clinked their mugs together.

“Who is she?” Betty whispered to Midge. She took a look at the woman, “She is Ms. Topaz, the lead photographer.”

* * *

“Where’s your camera?” Toni asked leaning back on a chair. Jughead shrugged, “Not sure if that’s even in working condition.”

Toni was his companion for all their photography trips, or rather, he was Toni’s. They knew each other from the godforsaken gang their fathers were part of. Their friendship was the only good thing came out of it, he often thought. It was pure luck that he reconnected with Toni during their college years. She was a photography major. She was shocked that he was not there studying creative writing, or literature. He was in a dark place. She knew everything. She insisted him to go with her for a weekend photography expedition. He had a knack for photography in school. But he did not pursue that interest. He did not even have a camera in college. They drove to a village. Toni showed him technical basics. He snapped few pictures in her camera. Nothing very artistic. Village houses, a lonely tree in a field, two kids playing in rain, sunset over a small water body. But he enjoyed it. It lightened his mood, kept him occupied. He forgot his miserable life while he was busy taking photos. That was the start. Then he accompanied her in many more trips. They spent all their savings over a photography trip to Europe. He bought his own camera in his Sophomore year in college. The photos from their Europe trip was really good. He was more into nature and landscape photography while Toni enjoyed fashion photography and portraits. Toni submitted some of her photos for Vogue and got her first job as professional photographer. But she did not continue that job, rather she preferred being a freelancer. She was never the one comfortable following orders. She became close friends with Veronica through him. Veronica was the one suggesting her name for photo shoots in their company. Toni is living her life in Florida now. But she came to shoot for Andrews Fashion House’s last two collections and both time her work got huge appreciation.

Jughead was not joking when he told that his camera might not be in working condition. He did not touch his camera for a long time. From the time he joined the company. Toni looked heartbroken at his confession, “What are you doing here, Jug? You are wasting a life. Quit your job, let’s start a photography magazine.”

This was her age-old proposal. They were a good team. They worked well together. But he never took her up on the offer. It was tempting but he could not leave his sister here. He did not know if Florida had any good facilities like the one JB was currently in. Moreover, he could not abandon Fred or Archie when they needed him. Fred was the one for whom he even considered going to college. He raised his cup and winked at her, “Maybe some other day, Ton.” She punched his arm playfully.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************

Fangs came out of the dressing room, face red. Jughead was alarmed. Fangs was not one of the guys who loved drama. He was a peaceful and tolerant personality. He never lost his cool generally, how much ever busy or chaotic the day was. But looking at his face now, it looked like it was taking all his strength not to yell and throw things at everybody.

“What’s wrong, Fangs?” he asked, concerned.

“Who…what…how”, Fangs rubbed his forehead for some time before saying anything more.

“What is this fabric, Jughead? Who approved this?”

The whole unfortunate afternoon from a month back replayed itself in his mind. He did not really talk to Archie after that. He got hundreds of sorry messages and voice mails from him. He received Archie’s call while he was in Toledo and assured him that it was okay, he was not angry. He was hurt obviously. But he was not really angry. Because, whatever Archie told, that was uncalled for, but it was true. He knew that Veronica also did not fight for any other supplier after that conversation. She came with a bottle of wine that evening to his apartment. Without any words, they drank and binge watched some old series from their high school days. None of them brought up Archie or his choice of vendors. So, it was unanimously approved.

“Tell me what happened?” he tried to sound calm. He knows Archie enough to assume that he would go to airport to receive Josie. Archie would never miss an opportunity to have a beautiful woman’s company. And, this time he can label it as “work”. Veronica is already handling enough pressure. He did not want to bother her with more bad news.

Fangs did not answer him but motioned him to follow. He followed the designer into dressing room. Fangs took a piece of clothing and handed it to him, “Tell me, where is the stretchable material? How in God’s name am I supposed to put this on Josie? Or any of my girls?”

He was no expert in clothing material but the lack of sophistication and softness was evident. The fabric was tight and rough and looked cheap. Not suitable for any fancy dress let alone for a fashion collection. He raked his hand through his hair in frustration, “When did you see this? The model’s dresses were supposed to be delivered a week earlier.”

“It was supposed to, but it did not”, Fangs cried. “I followed up with Archie and Ms. Grundy every single day. Even V tried to speed things up. But it came today morning.”

His first urge was to punch Archie in the face. Second thought was to yell at Ms. Grundy for being irresponsible and ban Browns Fabrics from all future biddings. But the more compelling thought was how to make the photoshoot a success. He believed in saving one day at a time when it came to his work. He already knew that their collection would be a disaster. The goodwill of the company would be damaged. He did not even want to think how Fred and Mary would react to that. But first they had to save the day somehow. Before he could come up with anything, Veronica entered in a swift motion.

“Everything ready guys?” she called out. Fangs looked at him. He looked at the dress in hand. The raven-haired woman frowned, “What is it?”

Ms. Grundy did not even wince in response to Veronica’s corporate insults. She simply called the storeroom to send something else.

“What was that?” Fangs demanded.

“These clothes are not for the models”, Ms Grundy informed.

“So, what are these?” Veronica frowned.

The elder woman smiled in such a peaceful manner, Jughead wondered if she already achieved ‘Nirvana’.

But Veronica was not a person satisfied with half explanations. “What are these pieces?” she inquired in a more demanding tone.

“No need to worry about them”, Archie’s voice came from the dressing room door. Josie was with him. The long flight hours did nothing to lessen her glamour. She was looking gorgeous as ever in a red dress.

“Josie, sweetie”, Fangs cried and hurried to hug the girl. She hugged back with a brilliant smile. Those two immediately got engaged in an intense conversation about latest gossips of fashion world.

“Explain”, Veronica squinted at Archie. He shrugged, “These pieces are for actual sale, in stores. We have used a better quality fabric to make the photoshoot and fashion show dress pieces, so that the campaigning does not get affected. Moreover, we cannot afford to let Josie or any outsiders see the actual fabric.”

“That’s horrible, Archie”, Jughead exclaimed, forgetting about the presence of Josie around them. He could not believe that his friend would think of such a mean method of fooling people. He eyed Veronica briefly. Her whole face was red with suppressed anger and frustration, nostrils flared.

Archie hissed, “This was the only way to implement budget cut efficiently. Bret helped me to come up with the idea.”

Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind. _You went to Bret with company’s secret? You value Bret’s stupid ideas more than your childhood friends’? Who the hell is Bret to pitch in ideas for our collection?_

But he could voice only one of them, “It’s cheating.”

Veronica snapped, “That’s what he is good at anyways.”

* * *

Betty saw Josie McCoy entering. The whole area filled with whispers and gasps. Her presence lit up the room. She saw Ms. Topaz waving at the diva. Josie waved back elegantly. Her arm was around Archie’s. Archie was beaming with enthusiasm. They both headed for the dressing room.

Midge nudged her in the ribs, “Do you think those two are having an affair?”

She scoffed, “Oh please! They just came arm in arm, that’s common in this industry. Is not it?”

The brown-haired girl thought for a moment, “yeah, true. But it’s Archie Andrews. Everyone knows that he’s a sucker for beautiful women. And my God, Josie McCoy is the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen.”

The photo shoot started interrupting their conversation. First, some in-house models posed for the shoot. Betty felt sorry for the girls, the way they had to dress in summer clothes in this chilly room. Josie McCoy’s shoot started around lunch time. But none of the employees left for lunch today. Everyone was admiring Josie’s beauty and personality. Betty was thrilled thinking these photos, that are taken in front of her eyes, would decorate the front page of some fashion magazine in coming weeks. The dresses in the collection looked flawless. She was no authority of fashion but the designs were eye-catching. The colours were soothing but elegant. She was proud of Fangs.

She saw Veronica and Archie standing side by side. Both their faces set in stone. Veronica’s arms crossed over her chest, Archie’s hands shoved in his pockets. They did not look at each other. They did not even acknowledge each other’s presence. She pondered over the fact if they ever smiled to one another outside media coverage? Whenever she saw them or heard them in the office, they were bitter, unforgiving. Maybe that was how people were in elite societies. They do not look for love to get engaged.

* * *

They had a collection launch fashion show followed by a party after office. She spent almost an hour contemplating what she should wear for office that day as she won’t have time to come back to her apartment for a change before heading for the party. She did not really have a wardrobe filled with party dresses appropriate for fashion industry parties. Finally, she decided on a baby blue coloured top with floral printed skirt that Kevin gifted her on her last birthday, completed with her denim jacket. She packed her mascara and lipstick in her purse. But she had no idea that her colleagues had packed an entire makeup kit to be tried and tested on her for more than an hour before they actually could leave for the party.

Midge insisted she should try all shades of lipstick that she has packed in her purse while Ethel was determined to put on some ‘magic foundation’ on Betty’s face that would make her face glow.

“Would not that be like scary in dark, a glowing face?” she tried to joke only to earn a glare from the chubby girl. Her own insecurities were getting the better of her as both women took turns to make her look fashionable. They could not believe that she has not packed any extra partywear and planned to show up there in the attire she was in all day. But she dismissed their urges to go back to her apartment. They were already running late. She did not want to miss the fashion show featuring Josie McCoy. Pointing out that they would not get a good seat to watch Josie McCoy was enough for the girls to give up on her dress and hurry.

The fashion show was perfect, as perfect as any fashion show could be, she thought. She spotted Fred and Mary Andrews, Nick St. Claire and other board members filling the first row. When Fangs walked to the stage, his arms wrapped around the waists of Veronica and Josie, she found herself clapping proudly for him. There was a lot of appreciative murmurings and loud applause for the designer.

The party was good too. Ethel and Midge were taking advantage of the unlimited alcohol. She is not one comfortable with too much drinking. She settled for mocktails and party snacks instead. She saw Veronica and Fangs chatting with some representatives of fashion magazines and Archie with drinks in his hand, surrounded by a group of gorgeous models. Veronica was looking her usual elegant self in a blue party dress that hugged her at all the right places. Archie was sporting a tailored Maroon suit that made his muscular body prominent, he looked charming as always. Betty was feeling severely underdressed looking at everyone in the party. At one point, Fangs came to her, hugging her warmly and asking for her opinion. She was so overwhelmed by his talent already, she praised the collection exuberantly. She felt sorry that Kevin had to go out of town and he could not enjoy his boyfriend’s fantastic work. She was also sorry for herself as she survived through high school parties only with Kevin by her side. She was not really a party person. Loud music, unlimited alcohol and dance floors were not her comfort zone. She was feeling suffocated in the closed area, not that it was a small space. The place was bigger than the size of her whole house in Riverdale. But she was feeling hot, regretting her decision to listen to Midge and wear her hair down. She followed Midge and Ethel around and tried to engage in small talks but her heart was not in it. Both girls were fairly intoxicated and giggling at the stupidest of things. She glanced at her watch. She should leave now. The party had no sign to be over soon. Ethel was supposed give her a lift but she was pretty much wasted, like everyone else. Definitely not in a state to drive. She made her mind up and bid goodbye to her colleagues who were too drunk to protest. She could not see Fangs around. He was probably busy talking to other designers or giving interview to some fashion magazine with Veronica. She carefully sneaked past of all inebriated people and the blaring music. As soon as she was out in the open, she filled her lungs with fresh air, relieved at the feeling of quietness of night surrounding her. The parking lot was filled with cars but she could spot one motorcycle among them. And one person leaning against it casually, smoking. She could not see their face, but she did not need to. She knew that posture, it was Jughead. her legs carried her towards him, a smile on her lips. Seeing her approach, he put out his cigarette and smashed it with his boot.

“Hey, what are you doing outside?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same”, she replied. Often, it slips from her mind that Jughead also is her boss. As soon as she realized that, she added quickly, “I’m just gonna head home.”

“Not a party enthusiast, huh?” he chuckled. She shook her head. He nodded in understanding, “Me neither.”

She could put that together seeing him outside. And he looked sober. He smelled like fresh coffee and cigarette. Not reeked of alcohol. He was in a suit, a little ill-fitting but it matched his careless style and wild array of hair. In office, he was comfortable in Jeans and jackets. She had never seen him in a suit before. He looked good in it.

“Well, it’s late and you might not get a cab easily. I can drop you home”, he offered. Secretly, she was relieved. She was not very confident of getting a cab soon either. But she could not jump at his offer. She knew that he was only being polite.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to.” She said, hoping he would not give up so easily. He did not. Probably her weak voice or hesitant expression gave her away. But he insisted that he would give her a ride. He looked her up and down carefully before looking back at the motorcycle. Her eyebrows shot up realizing the bike was Jughead’s and she was not at all ready to ride on that. She would prefer walking back home. He must have seen that on her face as he smirked, “I’ll get the car keys from Ronnie.”

* * *

Jughead hated parties. This was a known fact. And frankly, he did not have any job there either. He was not the media person or a fashion expert, he had no interest in sexy models and he detested alcohol. So, his whole existence screamed ‘anti-party’. But Veronica pulled some office policy bullshit on him saying that it was mandatory to attend. He was still ready to argue with that when Archie took another way and tricked him to be present to provide moral support for his best friend in the first big event during his Chairmanship. He was certain that his silent presence in the shadows would do nothing to support them. But with his stubborn friends, sometimes it’s easier to give in. So, he did. He came to the party in a grey suit that Veronica chose for him, practically threw at him frustrated with him being picky, before she left to get ready herself. As expected, he was tired before half the fashion show was over. He tasted all snacks items by the time the show ended. He enjoyed the whole food collection in the buffet before stepping out for a smoke. He did not have any intention to go back in.

As he was finishing his cigarette, he saw her coming out of the party hall. Her blonde hair waving down to her shoulders instead of her usual ponytail, green eyes shimmering against the contrast of the smoky colour of her mascara, plump lips painted pretty in pink. Her curvy body wrapped in a gorgeous mustard coloured top and floral skirt. She looked absolutely beautiful. As she approached him, the bright lights behind her created a halo reflecting on the gold of her hair. He might have forgotten to breathe for a moment. She smelled of vanilla and fresh strawberry. She looked perfectly sober as her steps did not falter and she smiled at him. He understood that she was not a party goer either.

He offered to drop her home just to fulfil his selfish desire to be near her for some more time. His concern for her not getting a cab was genuine though. Yes, he vowed not to tangle her with his miserable life. But that did not mean he did not long for her company or did not care for her. And what could possibly go wrong in just a ride to her home? He did not care about his heart. It was already in millions of pieces. He only needed to make sure that he would not break hers. And, he knew that he would never. So, he headed back inside to ask Veronica for her car keys which the Latina princess tossed to him with a warning look that said, _if I see a scratch later, I’ll kill you_. He was familiar with that look, so he simply shrugged and made his way back to Betty.

Driving through the night, in the city that never sleeps, with her by his side, giving him directions, he felt content. Like he could get used to this. Like he almost could paint a picture of their future together like this. He had to shake his mind with all the strengths he had in order to get rid of that stupid fantasy. He would protect Betty Cooper from himself in all ways possible.

Her voice cut through his inner battle. She asked him about his favourite novel saying that she liked his collection of books in office. He told that he could not choose but obviously that would be something related to murder mystery. “I liked Baxter Brothers series as a kid and ‘In Cold Blood’ till now”, he mused. She laughed, her eyes shining brightly in the dark, “I liked Nancy Drew.” They talked about books, her favourite author being Toni Morrison and him being too snob to accept any one author as his favourite. They talked about their college life. When she heard that he did his major in Mathematical Finance from Yale, she admitted that she always wanted to go for the same. But her family wanted her closer to home and Kevin was also at New York, studying arts. So, she did not even apply to Yale.

“You should have”, he told her.

“Maybe. But it all turned out okay, so it’s good”, she chirped. He looked at her hopeful and happy features and felt a tug at his heartstrings. He prayed to God, whom he did not believe in, for her to always be like this, cheery and optimistic.

Her apartment building was a short drive from the party venue. He sighed at how time passed too quickly in the drive. She thanked him again and again before he had to cut her with a firm “Good Night” to hide his own embarrassment. He drove back to his home in Veronica’s car, too exhausted to head back to the party again, knowing that she would anyways call her designated driver to take her home in another car.

* * *

It was time for another quarterly board meeting and he was avoiding every visit to Andrews household for past month. He even considered changing his number to dodge countless calls from Fred and Mary. Their Summer Collection has been criticized ruthlessly by the Fashion experts once it made its way to stores. Critics even claimed that this was the start of downfall for Andrews Fashion House. He knew that nobody was to be blamed but Archie himself for this disaster. But seeing his friends’ sad face, he could not bring that up, ever. 

He requested the Sales records for the latest collection from stores. He was the one responsible for making the reports and present it to the board. He had a strong feeling that the meeting was going to be nothing short of a catastrophe. And when he received the reports, his suspicion was confirmed.

“Don’t Jug. Please don’t show the actual numbers to the board”, Archie pleaded.

“How do you suggest me to hide the records?” he asked bitterly.

“Just do something. Please. You are so good with numbers, tweak the numbers, show some profit”, the redhead suggested eagerly.

He stared at his friend for a good amount of time, “You are proposing that I tamper with the financial data?”

Archie turned beet-red, “It’s…it’s not tampering. I’m the Chairman and I’m asking you to do it.”

“It’s still called fraud, Archie, in case you did not know”, he pointed out.

“No”, his friend started pacing in his chamber impatiently, “We are not going to submit it for audit or anything. It’s just we will not show the actual numbers in the board meeting.”

“How are you planning to deal with it in long term?” he mused.

Archie stopped pacing and kneeled in front of him, clasping his hand in both of his own, “I will manage it, Jug. But please, for the next week meeting, please help me.”

He could never say no to that puppy eyes and pleading voice. He sighed, “fine”. In his mind, he knew that he was only going to get himself deeper into Archie’s mess.

“Don’t tell Ronnie”, Archie reminded him in the same tone he used to warn him for their late-night video game plans to be kept secret from Veronica in school.

“You know, I won’t”, he promised back in the same way. He had no intention to rope in his other best friend to their messy situation.

But he did not imagine that this time it’s not him who would be tangled into a classic Archie Andrews created mayhem, it would be someone else. And it would be much more serious than any time in the past.

* * *

Betty was busy in re-planning Archie’s schedule as her boss suddenly ordered to cancel all afternoon meetings for the day. He had a couple of important meetings in the morning, one of them with Nick St. Claire. She remembered the person from her first day. He was a contender for Chairmanship and he tried to taint Archie’s image in that meeting. She had no idea why that person requested a personal meeting with Archie, but he was due any minute now. She was interrupted with an upset Archie entering her cabin. He never comes to her chamber. If anything is required, he either shouts the order from his desk or calls her on desk phone. But today he looked worn out. She was on her feet at once, not knowing what to do.

“Can you please pick up some files for me?” he asked. She could not understand. Looking at her confused expression, he clarified, “It’s with Jughead. He is not in office. He told me that I could trust you.”

The charming smile was back on his lips. But if not for the smile, she would have agreed easily for the trust. She always liked to be the trusted one. She asked for the address.

Archie waved her off, “my car will drop you there and pick you up once you have the files.”

She grabbed her purse and headed for the exit. Archie’s car was waiting for her there. It was a black Mustang. The driver, Andre, was dressed in a black suit with tie and a hat like she has seen in movies. He politely asked her if she was comfortable once she settled in the backseat. She nodded blankly. Well, she was not really comfortable. She was not used to being driven around by a personal chauffer. The entire drive she kept thinking if his suit was more expensive than half of her wardrobe.

She was relieved when they reached the destination. Jughead’s residence was not in the poshest area of the city. She looked up at the high rise they were standing in front of and Andre informed her that Jughead lives on the eleventh floor. She was just about to go in when Andre stopped her and told that his number is with Jughead, once she is done, she can call him. She bobbed her head up and down, still trying to catch up with the feel of having a personal driver.

She was little nervous before ringing the doorbell. She checked four times if that was the right apartment number. Archie told her that Jughead was unwell, so he could not come to office and deliver the files personally. Looking back to the morning, yes, she has not seen him the entire morning. It’s not like she meets with him every morning. But generally, she sees him every day either in the corridor, or he calls asking for Archie’s availability. Sometimes, when she goes for her morning coffee in the pantry, she sees him through his chamber’s half-open door engaged in a conversation with some employee from finance department.

The door opened revealing a woman with bright pink hair. Her eyes widened. She knew this woman, it was Ms. Topaz, the photographer. She was in an oversized t-shirt, with the word S printed on front and a pair of pink shorts, her hair messy like she was lying down. Ms. Topaz furrowed her brows as she saw her, “yes? May I help you?”

She swallowed thickly. She did not know why she did not expect Jughead to have any woman at his home. Yes, she now knows that he is not married, thanks to her new found office girlfriends. But he could have a girlfriend or even a one-night stand. Although it was a little late in the day for a one-night stand to open the door. She was so lost in her thoughts that she forgot to answer Ms. Topaz who was waiting patiently on the other side of door. Betty blurted out, “I’m Betty. Betty Cooper.”

“Okay?” Ms. Topaz seemed unsure of that information.

A raspy voice came from inside, “Who’s it, Ton?” Jughead’s lean frame appeared behind the pink-haired woman. He was wrapping a blanket on his upper body, black lounge pant and socks covered him completely. Betty could see his watery eyes, red nose tip and tousled inky hair and she understood that he was down with some kind of flu. She mastered a small smile seeing him.

He spoke to Ms. Topaz, “Let her in. Betty, this is Toni, my long-time friend. Toni, this is Betty, she is working as Archie’s assistant.” He gestured for Betty to sit on the sofa and went towards a room, she assumed his bedroom. Toni was eyeing her with utmost curiosity. She did not have the judging expression that others generally give her when they come to know that she works in a Fashion House. Rather, Toni’s look was something different, like she was genuinely surprised but not in a negative way.

“Would you like some coffee, Betty?” she asked politely. Betty had her coffee already but it was unnerving sitting with a woman she barely knows, so she nodded, “thanks.”

Once Toni went to the kitchen, she took in her surroundings. The apartment was neither lavish nor meagre. The living room was tastefully decorated with a bookcase, black leather sofa set and a glass table. The open kitchen had a fancy coffee machine where Toni was currently busy making a fresh pot. The large bookshelf piqued her interest. She started browsing through his collection. He had a very generous taste in books. His collection included everything from ancient history to modern day architecture, classics, fiction and non-fiction alike. But a huge portion of his collection was dedicated to thrillers and photography journals. Unlike his office, his home was decorated with a lot of picture frames. But those were not photos of people. The pictures were mostly of landscape, a couple of wildlife photography. She was examining one picture on the wall in particular. It was captivating. The photo consisted of a piece of barren land, the colour of the ground is a shade of black and not a single trace of green is visible. In the middle of the land, there was a cherry tree in full bloom. And the sky was a combination of apocalyptic pink and indigo. It must be sometime near sunset. Or sunrise. The contrast of colours made the picture very attractive, but she was intrigued by the subject matter. It was like the photographer wanted to show that bloom of life will always win against the dark canvas of death.

Toni’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “Fascinating. Is not it?” She offered one coffee mug to Betty and sat on the sofa with another. Betty thanked her and replied, “Yes. The photographer must have a deep philosophical side of their personality.”

The petite woman chuckled, “You know the photographer. And yes, he has a philosophical streak in him, often to the border of cynicism though.”

Her mouth hung open as realization hit her. _Jughead was the photographer_. She never pictured him as one of the artistic types. Yes, she was a secret admirer of his reading preferences. But he was a man of numbers, the finance guy. Seeing his work as a photographer made her wonder if he ever considered building a career there. Toni laughed softly at her amazed expression, “Jug is a multi-talented idiot.” Her tone conveyed clear affection and admiration and for the second time in the day, Betty thought if they were more than friends.

* * *

Jughead woke up that day with headache and running nose. When he tried to get out of bed, he felt his body screaming in pain at the joints. He groaned and fell back on the bed. He was working with the financial records late last night. But he could make changes only in half of the files. Other store files need to be looked at and calculations modified. It is a tough task if you consider Nick St. Claire would be breathing down your neck in the meeting. He was sure that Nick would have contacted the stores personally and queried about the sales. It would be really hard to sell these data. He had no idea how Archie was planning to recover from this setback. But now his main concern was how to work on the other files. He was surely in no condition to work today. The meeting was due next day. He thought to ask Archie to postpone the meeting. But that would look suspicious, specially when they will present those glorious numbers later. Although he modified it as less as possible to make it believable, Nick would sniff the scheme from a hundred miles distance. He called Archie who was on the verge of transporting himself through the cable before they remembered Nick requested for a meeting that morning.

“I will change the files myself. I will come and get the files from you”, Archie demanded. Jughead had major doubts about Archie’s skill with numbers. But they did not really have a choice.

“Don’t come yourself. You have a meeting to attend. If you cancel meeting last minute, Nick will be dubious.” Jughead warned.

“What else we can do? Should I send Andre? But he is Ronnie’s employee. What if he tells her?”

“I think, we can trust Betty enough to pick up the files. It would look normal, she is your assistant and these are financial documents.” He suggested.

Later, he would consider this suggestion as one of the things he has regretted the most in his life.

“Fine. Let’s do that”, Archie sounded relieved. But Jughead was rightfully worried for him. Playing with financial data is not one of Archie’s strong points. He hoped that the files he already modified would help him to follow the pattern and he won’t overdo it blindly.

He was thankful for Toni who came on a photoshoot assignment but decided to extend her stay seeing him struggling to get on his feet in the morning. She started dating a girl named Cheryl in Florida. Cheryl was in Real Estate business. He flicked his eyebrows hearing that but Toni convinced him that Cheryl was different. She was smart and sensitive and cared for Toni a lot.

He was lying down when the doorbell rang. When he heard a familiar female voice, he went out. Archie informed him that Betty started from office and he should just handover the files to her. He asked her to wait as he staggered back to his bedroom to get the documents. He took some time searching for all the files as they were scattered on his bed and table. He arranged them neatly and headed back to the living room. Betty was standing in front of his personal favourite frame. She looked at him as he entered. He felt a shiver under the appreciative gaze of her gorgeous green eyes. Toni must have told her about his photography. She told him it was beautiful.

“You are so talented, Jughead”, she said in a genuinely impressed tone.

He rubbed the back of his neck in nervous embarrassment. “T…Thanks Betty. Here,” he handed her the files. “Give them directly to Archie.” She nodded obediently. She looked so adorable with the serious expression on her face and her tongue sticking out a little at the corner of her mouth as she counted the files in a careful manner. Once she was done, she looked up at him, her eyes soft with concern, “Did you take any medicine? How are you feeling now?”

He nodded, “Don’t worry, as they say, mathematicians never die, they just lose some of their functions.” He could not help with the cliché joke. He heard Toni grunting in frustration. She has heard this joke too many times. But to his surprise, Betty giggled. He could imagine Toni rolling her eyes. Before he could feel self-satisfied with the sound of Betty’s giggle, his friend scoffed, “It’s still not determined if he’s down with a flu or something more serious. So, he might lose many functions.”

“Well, you know what happened to the indeterminate form that got sick in calculus!”, she told feigning a serious expression. His lips twitched into an involuntary smile as he and Betty cried in unison, “It went to L'Hospital’s”. She giggled again, making his head dizzy with the rippling sound.

“You know, the pronunciation is actually different…”, he started.

She interrupted him, “I know”, in a mildly chastising tone, “Don’t ruin the joke.”

He texted Andre to pick Betty up. He had no intention to let her go so quickly. But he had no excuse to block her time either. In retrospect, Andre could have picked the files by himself just fine. He wanted to see Betty once and tried to justify her visit by office work. Not only to Archie, but to himself.

“Take care, Jughead”, Betty told in a gentle voice as she left. He locked the door and came back to living room. He thought Toni might be banging her head in frustration by now. But she was sitting there wearing an amused expression. When he crashed on the other end of the sofa, she commented, “Nice!”

“What?” he asked, rubbing his temples. His headache creeping its way back now as he had nothing or no one to distract him.

“You are so smitten”, she said flatly.

His hands stopped, whole body frozen for a moment, then he leaned his head back on the backrest with closed eyes and replied, “Don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You are again running away from something good in your life.”

“Still have no idea what you are talking about”, he dragged himself up and headed for his bedroom. He heard Toni shouting from the sofa, “You can run away from the whole world, Jug, but not from yourself.”

* * *

When her boss asked her to cancel afternoon appointments, Betty did not expect him to be at office and actually work. She came back from lunch and was surprised to see him working with the files she brought from Jughead’s. Looking back to her short career here, she has never seen him doing paper work in office once. He has to attend several meetings a day, sure. But other than that, she could not remember him sitting with sleeves folded, suit thrown, files scattered in front of him, which was a very common posture for Jughead. But while he always looked perfectly engrossed in work, gears turning in his head, blue eyes scanning the numbers and long fingers playing with a pen, Archie looked like a lost puppy, frustrated and unkempt. She almost felt sorry for her boss. As he looked up at her, his look changed from blank to relieved. She could not understand why. Until he spoke. Until he requested her help to adjust the numbers in the files. Change the original records in a way to reflect profit, not too much, but marginal. She looked blankly at the sales records and profit calculations spread across Archie’s desk. This was not a part of her job. She did not sign up for this. Or, did she? What were the boundaries for a personal assistant’s work? She could not remember the job description. She was panicked for sure. She felt it deceptive, even if her boss ensured that those files would never be presented to auditors or used for any future events, it was only to shut Nick St. Claire up for the duration of board meeting. It turned out Nick had already threatened Archie to snatch the Chairmanship from him in next meeting, not so subtly, that morning. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she tried to open her mouth several times in protest. But she could not. It was Archie Andrews, staring so expectantly at her, eyes begging for help, the needy voice in which he claimed again and again that he needed her, that he was lost without her, that he trusted her more than anyone else for this job. She could not deny the task. In the back of her mind she knew that she was going to get herself into trouble. But her conscious mind was not able to think clearly with her boss holding her hand pleadingly like his life depended on it. Who was she to turn him down? Somewhere, a little part of her almost longed for Jughead’s suggestion now. What would he have done? What would he have told her if she voiced her dilemma to him? She had to discard that thought soon as Archie handed her all the files and flashed a grateful smile, “I will owe you, Betty.” 

**************************************************************************************************************************************

She worked through the files the whole evening, not stopping for a coffee, oblivious to when her boss stepped out of his office. Her tired eyes must have given up for some time as she was jolted awake a little after midnight. This time no Jughead was there to find her before they left office. She looked at the files in front of her and sighed heavily. Her work was almost done. With few finishing touches she completed the last of the file and tucked them all away in her drawer, locked safe from prying eyes. The whole building was eerily empty and dark. Security guards do not bother to check for antechamber lights or personal assistants. She was terrified to find the main exit door locked. She banged on the door as loudly as possible. A few moments later the night guard came running. The man looked bewildered seeing her inside office at that time of night. But he did not ask any question before opening the door for her. She gave him a thankful smile. Her Uber did not take much time to arrive and drop her at home. She hit the bed right away, too tired to change out of her work clothes or eat anything.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

A sense of déjà vu washed over her as she accompanied her boss to the board meeting. Only this time, it was Jughead who was absent and no irritated Veronica waited for them outside the conference room. She helped Archie to present the numbers the same way she helped Jughead on her first day. Fred Andrews gave an encouraging smile and nod much like that day. Nick St. Claire threw drama for Finance Head’s absence and a personal assistant’s presence in board meeting like before. Her jaw clenched at the suggestive comments Nick passed pointing out both the Chairman and his best friend managed to miss important board meetings in a span of six months. For most part it was a familiar feeling, being present in front of the board, presenting numbers. But it was different in a lot of ways. Her first day, she was bubbling with nervous energy and hopefulness. She was making a positive impact. Today, she was just nervous because she was trying to present a false positive result. That day she wanted her effort to be acknowledged. Today she wanted to disappear of guilt and shame as the board members started appreciating the presentation.

Nick was the only one who did not comment. He was wearing a frown and Betty was sure that he was plotting some plan. Archie’s smug smile did not falter at that though. After the conference was over, Nick wanted to talk to Archie in private. Archie asked her to carry the files to his office. She left with a feeling of unease as Nick’s eyes followed her.

When her boss came back to his office, his cheerfulness from before was gone. Rather, he was immersed in deep thought. But he did not say anything.

When she came back after lunch, she saw a tall brunette man talking to a very depressed Archie. They both stopped seeing her. Then the man got up and approached her with an extended hand, “You must be Betty? I have heard a lot of good things about you from Archie. I am Bret, Archie’s college friend.”

She blushed at the praise and took his hand shyly. She could not comprehend the look at Archie’s face, but considered it as the one of appreciation. When entered her small chamber, her mood was visibly improved. She was still not comfortable with the lies they presented in the morning, but that was over. And the knowledge that her boss noticed her specially, mentioned her to his friend made her day a whole lot better. But nothing could have prepared her for the surprise that came when Archie Andrews knocked on her cabin door and came in with a yellow rose bouquet. She was so stunned that she might have forgot to blink for few moments. He was back to his usual charming self, “I did not thank you properly for your effort. This is for you.”

She fumbled for a reply as his hands touched hers placing the bouquet in her hands. He smiled genuinely, “I know this is nothing. But I want you to know that you are special to me, Betty. I could not trust anyone else with the job you did for me today.”

Her whole face was burning red, her stomach swooping. She had an overwhelming desire to pinch herself to check if this was a dream. But even after she blinked several times, Archie’s attractive figure was still standing in her front, continuing his praise for her.

“Let me buy you dinner today?”

“I…I..”, she mumbled, unable to form a coherent response.

“I understand if you have other plans”, Archie nodded.

“No”, she choked out, “I…I don’t have any plan.”

“Perfect then”, he beamed at her, “We leave in an hour. I will make the reservation.”

She gulped when he left. She could not believe her ears. Suddenly, she became hyper aware of her appearance. She was going to dinner with Archie Andrews. She did not have an appropriate attire for this unlikely occasion in her entire wardrobe. She did not have time to change also. So, undoing and redoing her ponytail, washing her face and applying her lip gloss were the best she could do before they left for dinner.

She has never been to a restaurant this fancy before. The doorman opened door for them with a stoic face and she started to thank him before noticing Archie already stepped ahead of her without even throwing a side glance. She hurried to match his steps. The manager came with a knowing smile seeing Archie who was evidently a frequent customer here. His expression faltered only slightly as he saw her behind him. But he recovered pretty quickly with enviable professionalism. It was a corner table with flower decoration. The manager pulled the chair for her personally before she could embarrass herself. She did not know most of the names in the menu and did not dare to order anything for herself. When Archie ordered something after scanning the options, she nodded to confirm the same for her also. Archie took a vodka, she told that she was fine with water. It was as awkward as it could get. She felt every pair of eyes on her like she did not belong there. Archie did not talk much. He was engrossed in his mobile. She tried to ignore the lingering gazes. Once the food arrived, she was relieved in a way she never had been before in her life with the arrival of food. Archie ate slowly, enjoying his drink. She was desperate to leave. She could not relish her food lest the expensive table cover is ruined with food stains. The whole time she either ate hastily or tucked her hands in her lap in fear of knocking something down on the table. When Archie’s car dropped her at the doorstep that night, she was exhausted from the experience of a dinner with Archie Andrews. But as she was back in the safety of her apartment, the excitement returned. He complimented her as a special person in his life. He trusted her with a job, he could not trust anyone else with. He took her out to dinner and did not care how others saw her. She twirled once in her bedroom before changing into her sleep pyjamas. Sleep did not come easily that night. She was thinking back to the dinner, what all blunders she did, what all she could do better and if that happens again in future how she would behave more smartly.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************

But she did not expect to be greeted with a bunch of pink roses on her desk next day. There was a greetings card with the flowers, that read, “This colour reminded me of the colour of your lips. Thanks for yesterday night. – Archie”

She brushed her fingers on her lips distractedly. She was out of her wits. What does this even mean? It was just a dinner, right? It was not date. Was it a date? How could that be possible? Why would Archie Andrews would even think of taking her to a date when he has the most smart and attractive woman on the earth to go with him? She is not sexy and gorgeous like the models Archie spends time with or a corporate diva like Veronica Lodge. Why would he think of her lips when seeing a pink rose? Her heart beat violently in her chest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm...okay...so here it it...don't hate me plz..I absolutely hated myself while writing the barchie part. But I loved writing the jeronica friendship and a little bit of bughead.  
> Let me know what you think in the comments.

_“For who so firm that cannot be seduced?” - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare_

Betty was baffled with all the new attention Archie Andrews was giving her. He praised her for every small task. He put rose bouquet on her desk every day. With some or the other note of adoration written on a card. If she said that she was not flattered, that would be a lie. Because, she was. She was not able to believe her life. Nobody ever given her any special treatment till date. Nobody wrote romantic notes for her or gave her flowers. Why would Archie Andrews do something like this for a plain girl like her? What is there for her to give Archie that he does not have already? But she was also terrified. She knew that he had a fiancée. Maybe they are not in a very good relationship right now, but she is not like the girls Archie uses for short flings. Nothing serious. No strings attached. She never wanted such a relationship in her life. Every time, she wanted to talk to her boss and clear the air of confusion, she would be flustered with another new compliment or charming smiles or stares.

It was not until Friday, she was able to tame her nerves enough to talk to Archie alone. She was still nervous. And her anxiety only grew more when she saw him sitting with a glass and an opened whiskey bottle. She was not even aware that drinking in office was allowed.

“Betty, I was thinking about you only”, his voice slurred slightly. She took two steps backwards to avoid the pungent smell of alcohol. But he stood up and walked nearer. With the glass in hand. She had to stop him. She had to know what was happening.

“Sir”, she started but the crack in her voice betrayed her.

“Please call me Archie”, his voice sounded hurt.

And her chain of thoughts was interrupted. She regained her mindfulness again and continued, “Archie, I…I want to know what this is. I’m a very common girl. I’m not gorgeous or …or…sophisticated like the women in your circle. W…What is all this? Why are you doing this?”

He stared at her for a long time. She could not decipher his expression. It was a little like resigned. And also, desperation.

“You don’t know how important you are to me, Betty. You are the one I trust.” He insisted.

“But…you have Veronica Ma’am. You should talk to her. She is your fiancée.”

“Veronica?” he laughed dryly. “If she understood me, none of this would have happened. She is heartless, Betty. She thinks that she is superior than me. She…she thinks that I’m worthless. Do you think I’m worthless?”

“No..,” she breathed heavily at the close proximity of his body.

“I knew it. Only you would understand me. That’s why I like you, Betty.”

She now could feel his warm breath on her face. Smell of whiskey mixed with his cologne.

“I like you Betty”, he stated again. She could not understand if his voice is devoid of any emotions or it’s just her, unable to process anything. He was impossibly close now. Her thoughts were all jumbled up. Her whole body flushed. He closed his eyes and leaned in to press his lips on hers. She was so stunned that she stood there, stiff. Her first real kiss. She never imagined it to be like this. In a barely lit office, with an engaged man who is her boss. Her ears ringing, mind blurred. But his tongue was swiping through her bottom lip. Her mouth opened, more as reflex action than anything else. He tasted like alcohol. The strong bitter taste hit her nervous system jolting her enough to push him a little. He staggered back. His expression mortified. She could not look him in the eye and ran out of the door quickly. Thousand thoughts crashed in her consciousness. She could feel all the emotions at once without actually feeling anything.

Archie Andrews, the Chairman of Andrews Fashion House and one of the most eligible bachelors of elite society, liked her. _Her_. An ordinary girl. She could not wrap her head around the why part. Kevin was on some trip to Europe with his drama team. She did not want to worry him over phone. She had no one to discuss the things happening with her. That weekend she baked to relieve her stress. Her apartment filled with cupcakes. But her mind still reeling from the encounter in Archie’s office. Did he want to kiss her or it was his alcohol induced nerve? Did _she_ want to kiss him? She wanted to take a break from her thoughts. But that was impossible as her mobile kept notifying about “Sorry” messages from Archie Andrews. She did not reply to even one message.

* * *

Monday when she again stepped into the familiar office space, her inner conflict was evident in her tired eyes and shaking hands. As expected, her boss was not in yet. But someone else was. It was a tall dark gentleman with curly hair. Her assistant mode kicked in as she asked if he needed any help politely, informing him about Archie’s usual arrival time which was still at least an hour. He interrupted her business-like speech with a small wave of hand, “I’m not here to meet Archie. I’m here to meet you, Betty Cooper.”

Her stomach clenched tight. What was suddenly happening in her life? Why is she important to unknown people? “M-Me?”

The man nodded, “I’m Chuck Clayton. You might not know me. But I have heard a lot about you from Archie. He is sorry for whatever happened on Friday. But he really likes you, Betty.”

Her stomach was doing all kinds of twist and turn. Her head spinning. She tried to voice the first thought that formed in her head, “But Veronica Ma’am…”

“Oh, come on, Betty”, Chuck made a sad expression, “Do you really think Veronica loves him? She’s a stone-cold bitch always searching for opportunity. The Lodge industries name was tainted so she rather joined Andrews’ and got engaged to Archie to shift the focus. She never loved him.”

She did not imagine that about Veronica. Although she often wondered how the woman maintained such a composed exterior. Maybe that was not her exterior, that was her personality. She did not really know her. But clearly Chuck did. Archie also mentioned that Veronica thinks he was worthless. She does not understand him. But still she was his fiancée. Sensing her discomfort, Chuck continued, “Their engagement is more of a business deal, Betty. A deal that Archie is ready to break now. There’s no point in carrying on a loveless relationship, right?”

She knew about the pain of being in a loveless relationship. Her sister almost killed herself as a result of one. Her brother started doing drugs after being heartbroken by his boyfriend. Her heart pained for Archie. She wondered if his flirting with many women is a result of being sad in his engagement.

She thought about it. A lot. After Chuck was gone and after she discovered a teddy bear with a sorry card on her desk.

By the end of week, after every day flower greetings with different cards, another teddy bear and Archie’s warm gazes, charming smiles and flirty comments, she was nearly swept off her feet. No one ever showed this much interest in her or gave her gifts or smiled the way Archie smiled at her. She still dreaded the day Archie would wake up and stop doing this, chasing some sexy model again. But Archie’s continuous assurance that she was “different”, made her feel special. Knowing that Veronica did not love him made her heart soften for him. It made her feel sorry for Archie’s loneliness. She believed Chuck. Why would anyone lie about that? He had no reason to lie about his friend’s relationship.

She did not know what true love is. Definitely not sure if that is anything like _this_. But it did not matter. She wanted to make Archie happy. She could not bear to see anyone’s hurt expression.

Friday evening, just as she was getting ready to leave for the day, Archie called her to assign one last task for Friday. Reservation for two corporate suits in a Michigan resort, in the name of Jughead and Veronica, from Wednesday to Friday.

* * *

Jughead was jolted awake with his phone buzzing angrily. He groaned. He was in no condition to take any calls. He was grumpy from lack of sleep. He stayed up late last night. Oh, he remembered now. It was a fight. A big fight between his best friends.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

It all started with a perfectly normal Sunday dinner. Fred tried a new Italian recipe and Jughead happily finished half of the bowl alone. The dinner table was calm, no bickering or hard stares. Veronica enjoyed small talks with Mary while the boys were accompanying Fred in a journey down memory lane. It was when Fred brought up the topic of last board meeting, Archie stiffened, he started to feel nauseous and Veronica shot daggers with her eyes towards their way. He was a little sceptical how Archie managed the numbers so meticulously, but at least he was relieved that it was over. No more pretending around the Andrews’ or Veronica. He also knew that Veronica was not fooled. She suspected something. She kept her mouth shut because she loved them. He had no intention to lie to her. And he wanted this charade to be over as soon as possible. Archie assured to take care of the sales for next quarter. He believed him. It was a flop summer collection, but that should not affect their other sales. With Fred bringing up the subject matter, uneasiness settled through the room. But it was not Senior Andrews whose words resulted in a big fight; it was Mary’s. With her husband satisfied in the company’s growth in spite of a flop collection, Mary expressed her own interest in the next big step of Archie and Veronica’s life.

“When are you planning your big day? Ronnie always wanted a Fall Wedding, is not it?”

Archie went red like a tomato and avoided any eye contact. Jughead concentrated solely on the food in his plate. He could sense the tension in the room. He could cut it with a knife. After few moments of silence, Veronica spoke, “Well, I’m also waiting for it, Mary. But Archiekins thinks that it’s too early and he just took the new responsibility of Chairmanship.”

Archie looked so offended that Jughead had to think twice if his fiancée’s words carried any hidden insult.

“Oh, you think I am not ready to take responsibilities?” he hissed. And that’s where it all began. It was like opening a can of worms. Accusations were thrown like it was a court fight to get divorce, not two people in love arguing over their wedding date. It only got uglier as Andrews’ tried to step in and neutralize the situation. That ended in Archie storming out of the house and a very distraught Veronica apologizing to Fred and Mary for ruining Sunday dinner.

“Let me tell you, I am not buying your sorry. I need something more solid, like a burger”, he quipped once both of them bid goodnight to the Andrews’.

“You sure you don’t want to take part in science experiments researching in annoyingly high metabolism rate?” Veronica huffed.

“I refuse to use my appetite and digestive skills for money. I feel dirty thinking that”, his flattened his palm on the left of his chest in mock offense.

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes before going in silent mode. Her car was waiting in a mere feet’s distance. His motorbike was parked on the side of Andrews’ garage. But both of them felt like they needed to talk. They needed to get rid of the burden that was heavy in their heart.

“So…ice cream?” he tilted his head to see the girl’s lips twitching into a genuine smile. This was the smile of their Ronnie. She was not corporate queen Veronica Lodge. She was just a girl with bruised past and heartbreaks and weaknesses. She was a girl, who, like him, had to grow out of their innocence at an early age.

He told her everything about the sales numbers they changed, him and Archie, to survive the board meeting. She scolded him, screamed at him for lying to her, for making such a stupid mistake. And when her anger subsided, she voiced her suspicion if Archie had any help with the task. She knew Archie and his capabilities in and out. The man had many traits, well, maybe that was not very evident nowadays. But playing with financial data with such subtlety? That could not be all Archie. She doubted if it was his assistant because she heard that Betty had a finance degree. His heart sank, panicked. Did Archie drag her also to their mess? No, that could not happen. Even Archie is not idiot enough to reveal this secret to an outsider. And Betty. She would never agree to do something dishonest like this. He shook his head and told Veronica, “It can’t be Betty.”

“And how are you so sure?” she narrowed her eyes.

He did not know. But she was so pure and sacred. She could never be tied to something mundane and untruthful as this. Veronica eyed his features for some time before exhaling heavily, “Jug, do you…do you like this girl?”

His head jerked up, “what? I barely know her!”

“Okay”, she said in a voice that one uses to reason with a child, “but do you want to know her?”

“I know a trap question when I hear one, Ron”, he grumbled. And he was not ready to talk about his feelings. Not yet. Not ever. So, he did what he does the best. Put his shield of sardonic humour up and channelled their communication to Archie and Veronica’s relationship.

She told him all her doubts, her insecurities. She recounted the day she decided to join Andrews’ Fashion House. The evening when she came back from a strenuous meeting with one of Lodge industry’s investors, her boyfriend was there waiting for her. Cooked dinner served on the table decorated with rose petals. He put a silver ring to her finger and promised to be with her forever. He was in college then, sophomore year. She just got her degree. He insisted her to take a break from Lodge empire and join their company. Technically, it’s her company too, she had her father’s shares.

“We will build the future for our company together, Ronnie”, he told. Veronica was in love with that Archie Andrews. She still wonders when it all changed. Maybe she got too busy in the corporate world. Maybe Archie got an inferiority complex of not being as good as her in studies or in dealing corporate matters with expert’s ease.

“I was happier with the silver promise ring than this”, she lifted her left hand to wiggle the ring finger, “this precious diamond. It has started to suffocate me, weigh me down. But I can’t just walk away from this. Can I?” She was looking expectantly at him. At her long-time best friend who would never say anything just to please her. He remembered that silver promise ring. He has not forgotten the romantic Archie who was smitten with Veronica. But now he was lost too. He has lost control on his life long ago, no point in trying the take the steering of hers. He shrugged and wrapped his hand around her shoulder, pulling her closer for a kiss on forehead, “You are a fighter. You will fight your way out.”

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

His phone started vibrating again. He frowned. It was an unknown number, turned out it was “good morning” call from some luxury hotel in Michigan. He sighed as he looked at the time. It was too early for him to be in his corporate mood. It’s never a good time when he has to be in his business attitude, but early morning is a particularly bad one. But the receptionist only wanted to confirm their reservation.

“Excuse me? What reservation?” he demanded. He was sure that this was a mix-up. He had no business in Michigan. Even if he had, he would never in his life will stay in a luxury resort like this.

But the melodious voice informed him in a very business-like manner that he was booked to stay there for two nights staring from day after tomorrow. Not only him. Two corporate suites were reserved, one on his name, another on Ms. Lodge’s.

* * *

He did not buy Archie’s insistence for even a moment that it was to meet their investor who was vacationing in Bay City. They could have easily waited for them to return. Archie’s logic of people being more generous and seal the deal when they are vacationing was equally bullshit. From the look on Veronica’s face, she did not believe it either. But instead of starting another argument, they just gave in. Maybe that was good. Maybe that was all they needed. A little time. A little space. Distance from Archie. Break from daily corporate routine. Maybe when they would come back, it would not be this complicated. He honestly wished that.

They had their meeting with the investor on Thursday. So, they explored the city on Wednesday evening. Actually, he explored. Veronica had been here on vacations with her family as a kid. She suggested some eating places that he refused to go because the names sounded so pretentious. They walked on the streets. Veronica whined about her feet being hurt continuously. He not so kindly pointed out that she should have thought about that before wearing a fucking 5-inch heel for evening stroll. She stuck her tongue out at him. They fought over which flavour of ice cream they should get much like when they were younger. His mood was already lighter enough to think it was indeed a good idea. Seeing Veronica remembering her childhood memories here and there, behaving like the light-hearted, cheery, still elegant teenage girl, made him realize that how much needed this break was. Not only for him. But for her. She got trapped in corporate world way before him. She liked it, yes. But she had to go through a lot in last few years. She had the knowledge of her father’s shady business deals first when she was fourteen. She hated her father for that. But it was not until Hiram Lodge got arrested for money emblazoning that the whole world knew about it. Unlike him, she did not run away or deny her father’s surname. And he respected her for that. She was stronger than him that way. She made it look very easy. He knew it was not easy for her. Only him and Archie knew the unpolished Veronica Lodge under the sophisticated one. He always had a sense of protectiveness for that bruised and sensitive Veronica, same like he had for Jellybean.

He texted Archie that night. Thanking his best friend. Telling him that it was a welcoming break and it was required to restore their sanity. He did not know that he would regret his decision the very next morning. Next morning when loud poundings on his door would wake him up.

He grumbled as he opened the door, “I swear to God, Ronnie…”. He stopped seeing her face. She was biting her lower lip, suppressing anger, frustration and maybe a few teardrops. Her tablet was on his face showing him something. His sleep hazed brain took some time to register that it was an email. An email from their audit firm confirming their visit for today as discussed with Chairman’s office last week. He had to read the mail twice to ensure that he was not missing anything. There was an audit. Today. At Andrews’ Fashion House. Archie knew about it. And, he kept it under wrap. He made them, both of them who were generally the ones handling auditor’s visits, to leave the office during that specific time. They tampered the actual records in last board meeting. If audit happens now, everything will be out in the open. Why the audit was happening now? Then, it struck him, Nick. It must be Nick. He suspected something in last meeting and requested a special audit. Why Archie was not concerned? What was his plan? What the hell was going on?

By the time he went from confused to worried to panicked mode, Veronica was already dialling Archie’s number on speaker. The initial conversation went in the same way any conversation between Archie and Veronica goes nowadays. She was cold with fury. He was seething in anger. When Archie demanded that he had a plan in place to impress Mrs. Burble enough to pass the audit and he did not need their help, Jughead could not keep his mouth shut. Because, Mrs. Burble was one of the most dignified and intelligent women he has ever seen. She was not the one to fall for Archie’s boyish appeal.

“Archie, if you are thinking to charm your way out of this one, that’s not going to happen.” He told seriously with Veronica backing him up, “Jug is right. Mrs. Burble takes her work very sincerely. We need to have a plan after your little trick in last board meeting.”

“You told her?” Archie’s voice was screaming in disbelief.

“ _That_ is your concern right now?” he could not believe Archie would think of hiding that information from his fiancée, their best friend, forever. They did not tell her because she would not have approved of what they did. But after it was done, there was no point in not telling her.

“Archie, listen to me”, Veronica’s voice was steady but he could hear the emotions. She was one of those people who loves fiercely. She would go to any length to protect or avenge her loved ones. And, she hates in an equally fierce way. Once you are in her bad side, there is no mercy. She had never forgiven her father. She had never forgiven Chuck Clayton. But she still loves Archie.

“You are playing with fire. Please let us help you”, she insisted. He held his breath for Archie’s response. He hoped that his best friend would understand no one could ever love him like this woman here. No one would ever be so desperate to protect him like his high school sweetheart. Then Archie’s reply blasted out through the speaker, smug and careless, “Oh, I’m very good at my game. I don’t need you two always babying me. Good luck for your meeting.” The line went dead with a click.

Veronica’s jaws were set tight. He felt his own chest tighten at Archie’s words. Both of them are experts at concealing hurt feelings. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They would not ditch their duty to Andrews’ Fashion House. They had a meeting to attend.

* * *

When Archie informed her that there will be an audit and she needed to prepare the documents, she was taken aback. She was not a staff in finance. Moreover, it was a big deal, company’s financial audit. Jughead would be the right person to do the task. But Archie reminded her that it was on that Thursday and Jughead would be out of town. She was the one to make the reservation. She remembered. Her boss insisted that she worked with him, instead of Jughead, to complete the reports. His reason was that he did not want to worry Jughead before his big meeting with an investor. She was nervous but happy also. A proper work for her degree, her interest. That happiness was gone once they started working together. Archie was clueless when working with finance data, but that was not the problem. She was fine on her own, working too eagerly to show her natural expertise at this. Problem was he pointed out that her reports should reflect the same data they presented in last meeting.

“If we don’t do that, I would lose my Chairmanship, Betty.” he pleaded. He told her that his position was at her mercy now. _He_ was at her mercy now. He told her that he would never force her to do anything but she was so special, so different and he trusted her. He told her that he was taking the responsibility. She just had to help him because he was not very good with numbers. He assured that soon, he would ensure the sales is enough to cover this. In next meeting or next audit, they would produce the correct data. But for now, it was required. It was required to save him.

She has never been good at saying ‘No’. She had a natural tendency to take the charge of making everyone happy. How could she say ‘No’ to a person who was the first one, and only one, to appreciate and adore her openly? Who was already dealing with so much personal problems? It was some files. It was one audit. If all goes fine, and he was insistent that everything would go fine, they would never have to do this again. On the other hand, if she denies him now, his life might be destroyed. So, she agreed reluctantly.

After years, when she would look back to this time, she would understand that she should have denied, she should have thought through, she should have been cleverer. But she was not wise. She was an emotional fool who believed in people. She was gullible and low in self-confidence. So, she helped him. She helped him in his plan. Letting herself be a puppet in said plan unknowingly.

After she pulled three consecutive sleepless nights to work on the files, it was done. Thursday morning, they were ready with the files. Well, the fake files. Mrs. Burble was an elder woman, calm and sharp. She liked her. The feeling seemed mutual as Mrs. Burble gave her a respectful nod after knowing she was the one handling audit this time. She was familiar with the company and people. She asked about Jughead and Veronica’s absence for an important event like this. Archie managed to convince her that they had to leave for an urgent meeting. Betty’s heart was beating impossibly fast whole time she looked through the data, asked relevant questions. At the end, she looked satisfied though. She congratulated Archie for carrying his responsibility so well. While leaving, she gave Betty her number asking her to contact if she ever needed anything. Maybe, like a new job. She said that part jokingly. She felt terrible. She could not meet the woman’s eyes. She warned Archie good naturedly that Nick was quite adamant that there was something suspicious, so she would not be surprised if he demanded another round of full audit soon. Betty looked at her boss, terrified. But his expression was not changed.

Archie asked her out for dinner again next evening. He told that it was to celebrate their ‘success’ during audit and Nick’s defeat. She was not so sure about celebrating that. But it was Archie Andrews who could persuade his best friends to do anything for him and coax women all the time. So, it was not hard for him to convince the girl who already had a soft spot for him. This time, he asked her to do the reservation. It was another equally posh restaurant like they went last time. But something was different this time. This time, Archie gifted her a dress to wear for the dinner. A note attached to the gift, “ _It’s a date – Archie_ ”.

She definitely should have been more thrilled about it than she actually felt. But some part inside her dulled down all her senses.

* * *

Veronica was uncharacteristically silent for the whole flight back to New York. He was worried sick thinking about the audit. So, he gave up his ego and called Archie Friday morning. He was surprised to hear Archie’s arrogant answer that whatever plan he had, worked perfectly. He had no idea how that was even possible. But a part of him did not want to know either.

As they headed for airport exit, Veronica’s phone rang. He did not know who was on the other end but her face lost a considerable amount of colour when she finished the call.

“It was Marvin”, she informed.

“Marvin the manager from your favourite restaurant?”

“yeah, Archie’s office booked dinner for two today. He called me to confirm.” She looked deep in thought, “Is he taking another woman to _my_ favourite place?”

He had no idea. He had no idea about a lot of things. A lot of things stopped making sense lately. Yes, it was almost dinner time and Archie was certainly not expecting Veronica for dinner. And, her favourite restaurant was one of the poshest places he knew of, the ambience was not ideal for taking a one-night stand or casual hook-ups there. He did not try to make any suggestion. His friend continued, “I will go and check, Jug. You carry on. I need to know what is going on.”

It was probably not a good idea. He did not say that. After all Veronica had a right to know. She was a big girl. She could face the truth. She has been like that for a long time. She was the one kicking Chuck Clayton in his balls when he tried to take advantage of her drunk state, before Jughead punched him on the nose. She could handle this too. He squeezed her hand in silent support. He would always be there for her. She squeezed back. She already knows that.

* * *

As soon as they entered the restaurant, a cheery looking guy ran forward to welcome them, “Archie Andrews! As I live and breathe”, he shook Archie’s hand with easy familiarity. Then his gaze landed on her. he looked her up and down with an expression of shocked surprise. She immediately felt insecure under the man’s scrutinizing gaze. She was already very self-conscious in the blue dress that Archie insisted her to wear for the dinner. It was not really her style. It was sleeveless, had cuts in places she was not comfortable showing and it clung to her body too tightly making her feel strangled. She did not have any jewellery to match it, so she ended up wearing only two small white studs in her ears. She almost changed out of it at last moment. But she did not have the heart to disappoint Archie.

Archie was also looking uneasy. “Marvin”, he greeted in a mechanical voice, “Did not know you came back here.”

Marvin quickly controlled himself and extended his hand for Betty, “Ah Ma’am, sorry I might have expected someone else with him.” She could see the horror on Archie’s face. Marvin asked Archie in a casual tone, “the usual seat?” Archie became more agitated. He was shuffling from one foot to another. Once they were seated and Marvin was out of earshot, Archie turned to her and told, “You need to leave, Betty.”

Her heart sank. She could not understand what _she_ has done. Was he not comfortable with her being seen in public? Archie’s next words hit her like a bullet, “Marvin is a good friend of Veronica. I’m sure that he has already informed her about this reservation. She will come spying on me.” There was irritation in his voice. But more than that there was fear. Veronica was always a sore subject to her. She did not know what kind of relationship she had with Archie when Veronica was still his fiancée. Did it make her one of those models Archie hooks up with frequently? But Archie told her so many times that she was special. Sensing her dilemma, Archie touched her wrist, “We’ll talk about it later. But I don’t want her to see you now. She will humiliate you. I’m looking out for you.”

Without words, she nodded and left the restaurant quietly. Away from everyone’s prying eyes. Avoiding Marvin’s questioning gaze. Out in the street, she could not control her tears anymore. Slight chill in night breeze sent a shiver through her. She chanted in her mind that she was special to Archie. But there was no certainty in them. They sounded fake even to herself. She did not know which way she was walking so fast. She just wanted to channelize her whole energy on her walk. To wherever her feet takes her. Until her body collided with a hard chest and two strong hands grabbed her on the waist breaking her inevitable fall.

“Betty?” A familiar voice rang in her ears. She was still clutching the hands of her saviour. Looking up she met the unmistakable soft blue eyes, shining with concern. Jughead straightened her with care and let go only after she was firmly placed on her own feet. She ran her fingers blindly over her tear prickled face. She once again became hyper conscious of her revealing dress. She felt exposed. Suddenly it felt like every person walking around was throwing her a look. She must be looking like a fool in a super expensive stylish dress crying her eyes out standing on the sidewalk.

“Are you alright?” he demanded. _Jughead_. He was wearing black t-shirt and jeans, a flannel tied around his waist. Why is he always there when she needed help? Why is he so good to her? She wanted to say no. _No, I’m not okay. My very first date in life ended before it even started_. But she could not possibly say that.

She nodded, “I’m fine, Jughead. Thank you.”

She did not want him to leave her just there. She wanted someone to talk to. Someone to pour her heart out. Or, maybe someone to distract her mind from the complicated situation she has put herself in. Someone to remind her of the simpler things in life. Snowman in winter. Swimming in summer. Long walk along Sweetwater river in autumn.

“You know”, his voice brought her back to reality. “There is a café behind this book shop. Do you want to, maybe, try it?”

She was thankful that he did not ask any further questions about her state. She was happy that there was a book shop, from where he was coming out when they bumped into each other.

He took her to the café through book store. She already felt lighter seeing the small store full of rare collection of books. They occupied one of the tables in the patio behind the shop. It was an open café, serving burgers, milkshakes, coffee and finger food. But she did not mind. She was far more comfortable here than in the privileged restaurant she was before. Thinking about the restaurant settled a pit in her stomach. She tried to concentrate on the modest menu and ordered a burger and a strawberry milkshake. He ordered two large cheeseburgers, a side of fries, nachos and black coffee. Seeing her raised eyebrows, he snorted, “Don’t insult my appetite Betty.”

This is why she keeps forgetting that he is her boss. Or, at least one of the bosses. He is so easy-going and she feels naturally at ease around him. The food was good. But she told him that it was not as good as Pop’s, the famous diner in her hometown. He told that he would love to go there someday just for a good burger. She was excited at that prospect, showing someone from New York her hometown. She loved Riverdale. It was where she spent first eighteen years of her life. Till now, whenever she goes back, it feels like no time has lapsed. Pop Tate is the same smiling old man. Sheriff Keller still rides the police car with a broken siren. Her house still welcomes her with white picket fence and the swing on the porch.

“Tell me about it”, he said. She heard genuine interest in his voice. _Really? He wants to hear about a small town?_

“If I start, I might talk whole night”, she replied laughing. She has never talked about her home to anyone in New York. She would be more than happy to share those memories. And, she would love if the listener is Jughead. She felt that he was a good listener. He listened to her panicked ramblings with utmost patience whenever she went to him for any help. Around him, she never felt any urge to act calm and composed to show that she belonged there. Because, she felt she belonged there.

He nodded thoughtfully, “Let’s get out of here then and go to my place.” Her eyes widened and he quickly added, “Not to my apartment, Betty. We have a beautiful terrace area and that is open tonight for interested people to watch the meteor shower. That is if you want to.”

She forgot about that. There was a meteor shower expected to be seen in naked eye tonight. Her cheeks reddened that even for a moment she thought that he wanted to take her to his apartment. She smiled enthusiastically, “I would love to. Thank you Jughead.”

* * *

He did not know how Archie and Veronica’s encounter would go. He felt restless alone in his apartment. So, he walked to his favourite bookshop only ten minutes away. Striding through the shelves full of new and old books and the smell of pages calmed him down enough. Then he bumped with Betty Cooper on his way out. Her tear-soaked face concerned him more than it should. He understood that something was wrong. Her hair was down. Loose golden curls bouncing over her shoulders. She was in a dress. The dress was not Betty Cooper style. It’s not like he did not like it on her. She was pretty as always. But she looked uneasy in it. She was tugging the hem of the dress and wrapping her arms around herself instinctively. He did not think before he proposed to watch the meteor shower and listen to her childhood story whole night. It was more on a whim. But he did not regret it. He would never regret doing something that would make her feel good. And his selfish heart would be satisfied anytime he is around this beautiful blonde or listening to her soft cheerful voice. As they were back on street, she shivered. Maybe from the slightest chill in night breeze, or maybe sensing the shameless stares of passers-by on her. He removed his flannel shirt and offered it to her. She looked at him gratefully before wrapping it around herself.

* * *

His shirt smelled just like him. It was warm. It wrapped her like a security blanket. Walking with him, to his apartment building, felt easy. Their steps matched perfectly. She was not having swooping nervousness in her stomach like she feels every time she walks behind Archie. She felt at peace. She felt free and familiar. Like walking by his side was the most natural thing in her world. He grabbed a couple of blankets before they climbed up to the terrace. A few people were scattered there. A man his age greeted Jughead saying that the weather was good and the chances of witnessing the cosmic event was very high because of clear sky. He nodded and patted the man on back. Once they settled on their blankets, he informed her that the guy he talked to, was a researcher in cosmology in NYU.

They started chatting soon, creating their own little world of whispered conversation. They talked about her hometown. The flourishing Maple syrup business there. Sweetwater river, that freezes during winter. The forest surrounding the river where Kevin was once lost when they were six. Sherriff Keller organized search parties to find his boy. The swimming hole where she used to go every summer with her siblings and Kevin for a refreshing swim. The Sunflower firm near her hometown she wishes to visit again. They talked about her parent’s newspaper business. Chic’s taking over of the business. Polly’s kids. Her high school days. The lonely nerdy girl who poured her heart out in the pages of her journals. They talked about his childhood. His sister. She did not know his father was once a part of Andrews’ Fashion House. In fact, his and Archie’s fathers started this business together. They were best friends like him and Archie. Then his father got out, selling his portion of business to Hiram Lodge. FP started his new business as the owner of a bar. But that failed too soon. Then he started taking odd jobs here and there. Most of the time, he was not home. They talked about his mother leaving with his sister, abandoning him for three long years without any contact. Archie and Veronica being with him through everything. Him restarting the school newspaper with his sole effort. They shared more embarrassing emotions than they ever did with any other person. FP’s gang affiliation, alcohol addiction. His running away from his father to the Prep school in the Senior year. Polly’s underage pregnancy, her attempt to take her own life. Chic’s drug problem in college. Her coping mechanism of digging her nails in her palms. Probably it was the cover of darkness or something else, that they both felt so comfortable opening up to other one. They talked for hours before shooting stars filled the sky like firework. Then they fell silent. So did everyone else around them. Nobody spoke even after the last glow of the shower faded and the night regained its stilly composure. She heard people shuffling to get up and go down. But they stayed there. Sitting lazily on the blankets. And, they talked more.

“My father killed my mom”. Jughead’s words should have shaken her in a way that she would want to leave. But it did not. She reached for his hand and clasped it in between hers, both their palms fitting together perfectly. She felt so bad for him. She did not pity him. If anything, she respected him more. He had the strength to endure a harsh reality where one of your parents is dead and other one is the killer. He was a survivor. He survived after that. Now he was doing well for himself all by his own. She knew the reason for him not using any surname. He did not tell her. But she understood his unspoken words. Just like he understood her inhibition with her body because of how she was treated in her school. Well, her whole life.

It was the crack of dawn and they were still up. Exchanging life stories, happy and sad memories, joyful moments and tough times. Holding each other’s hands to show their support when the other needed it. She felt it so right. It was not inciting like it was with Archie. It was grounding. It was more intimate than that drunk kiss she and Archie shared, than the flower bouquets or the teddy bears. Her heart beats were not erratic, rather they were beating in perfect rhythm. Here, on a terrace of New York apartment building, watching the sun rising over city skyline, with him by her side, she felt at home.

* * *

Watching the sunrise with Betty Cooper by his side must have been one of the nicest things life had blessed him with. The rays of rising sun gave her pale face and golden hair an angelic aura. He was not a portrait photographer, but at that moment he wished he was one. His fingers twitched to tuck one of the loose strands of her hair to tuck behind her ears. They talked whole night. They shared some colourful and some angsty past. Well, angsty was mostly in his part. He was shocked to know that nobody ever told her that she was beautiful. She never went to college parties because of her oversized glasses and conservative wardrobe. When he asked about her glasses, she shyly informed him that she wears contact lenses now. He thought that he would love to see her in glasses some time. Seeing the faded crescent shaped scars in her palms made his heart clench. Her failed interview experiences made his blood boil. Once again, he felt that Betty Cooper was too pure for this world. She did not flinch when he told about his parents. She squeezed his hand in assurance when he told her about his sister witnessing the murder and falling into the cruel effects of PTSD. She shared his sense of pride in the fact that his sister completed her high school with online education from the facility she was living in. She soothed his concern about JB’s future. She told him that everything will be alright. And, for the first time in life, maybe he was willing to believe it. There were still so many things left unsaid. He was not ready to let her go yet. So, he offered her morning coffee. She agreed with her patent adorable smile.

He is a coffee person. A coffee enthusiast rather. He has collections of coffee beans from different countries. It is one of his fascinations. When he was grinding the coffee beans to make a fresh pot, she perched herself on the kitchen counter top. Her dress was pulled up above her knees to expose more of her legs in the process. His shirt still draped over her shoulders. He tore his eyes from the smooth skin on her slender legs and concentrated on the task in hand. A comfortable silence fell around them. She broke the silence after few minutes, “Ms. Topaz is a close friend of yours?”

The question was unexpected, but he agreed easily, “Yeah. She is one of my oldest friends.” He did not know where it came from but the next question startled him, “Are you two…I mean are you two in a relationship?” She looked nervous, fidgeting with the sleeves of his flannel.

He never behaved like her boss. He never felt like anyone’s boss. He was comfortable in peaceful co-existence with all their employees. But he doubts if he would have tolerated anyone else’s question on his and Toni’s relationship. He did not mind coming it from her though. He laughed at the memory of his first kiss with Toni and shared the short amusing story with her. Both of them were fifteen and inexperienced. The kiss was sloppy and disastrous. Their noses kept coming in the way of their lips. Their hands kept tugging each other’s hair in a very unromantic way. Finally, they both broke into hysterics feeling exhausted and stupid. They never tried it again, but teased each other continuously claiming other one was a terrible kisser.

The end of her lips curled upwards in a small smile as she listened to the story. Then her expression turned to somewhat sombre, “Did you ever have a fantasy about your first kiss?” Her voice was coming from far away. Her gaze fixed on some imaginary point in space. He briefly thought back to last evening. She was upset. Maybe it was a failed date. Maybe some jerk stood her up. Or, maybe her date kissed her forcefully? His whole body got tensed at that thought. And, instead of replying to her question he threw a counter question to her, “Did you?”

“Since I was twelve”, she told without a moment’s thought.

“Did it match with reality?” he asked again, trying to sound nonchalant.

She looked at him with full intensity now. Like she was contemplating if she should tell him the truth. Then, all of a sudden, her eyes filled with tears. She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth. Automatically, he reached for her hand to comfort her, but her words stopped him in his track, “It was Archie.”

His face must have turned white or something worse, because a few drops spilled from her eyes, “It just happened. He…he told me that I am special to him. He likes me.”

This cannot be happening. He is dreaming. A very bad dream. Or, he has lost his hearing ability. He is not hearing correctly. Or, something else. He does not know what. But it cannot happen. Archie Andrews cannot use Betty Cooper in his dirty game. The game he keeps playing with different women to boost some sick kind of ego. But a look at her face, eager to hear something from him, told him that it happened.

“Was it Archie yesterday?” he somehow managed to ask. She nodded mutely. He could feel his face contorted in hurt and anguish. Suddenly every puzzle piece fell into place. The flawless adjustment of numbers in board meeting. Archie’s insistence of him and Veronica being away from office while the audit was happening. The call from Marvin to Veronica about a dinner reservation last night. This was not just a casual hookup; this was an elaborate plan. While he was busy protecting this ingenuous girl from himself, she became a pawn in Archie’s play. Anger coursed through his veins.

“You don’t like my relationship with your friend, do you?”

The piercing green eyes were trying to search his soul. He curled his fist and punched hard on the wall, his face just an inch away from hers, “damn straight, I don’t”. He spoke through gritted teeth, “For fuck’s sake, Betty, he has a fiancée. Have you ever thought who you are to him?”

The innocent eyes did not look away or hesitate, “Are you jealous?”

He froze on the spot. Partly because she was right, how much ever he tried to deny all his feelings, he could not anymore. But mostly because he realized that he lost this battle, he could not save her from the classic Archie Andrews mess. She has already fallen into the trap.

* * *

She does not know what came into her. Why she felt an overwhelming urge to tell him about Archie. What was she expecting from him? Some kind of assurance that she was doing the right thing? She made the right choice? If she expected that, it never came. He grimaced, disgust and hatred radiating from his features. Does he hate her now? Why she had to taint the immaculate memories of last night?

“You don’t like my relationship with your friend, do you?” she knew the answer even before she asked the question. But she still did, trying to read his glimmering blue eyes which were now clouded with a stormy shade. He punched on the kitchen wall. She never saw him so angry and frustrated. “Damn straight, I don’t”, his words felt like a stab in her gut, “For fuck’s sake, Betty, he has a fiancée. Have you ever thought who you are to him?”

She did not. She believed that Archie liked her. She wanted to feel accepted and praised. Not only for her work, but for herself. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to feel special in someone’s eyes. And, it was Archie Andrews who can woo any woman he wants. So, she believed that he wanted her not for sexual reasons but for her personality. But did he?

“Are you jealous?” the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think of it. Maybe a little part of her wanted him to be jealous. Maybe her petty mind wanted to associate his jealousy with his outrage. But he did not answer. He did not move. The resigned expression on his face felt like a physical pain to her. She was the reason for it. And, no. Obviously he was not jealous. Why would he be? His head was hung low, like he could not meet her eyes. He was just annoyed. Annoyed for ruining his friends’ engagement.

In a desperate attempt to justify herself, she spoke against her better judgement, “He…he told that Veronica Ma’am does not love him. She never did.”

His jaws tightened. His knuckles turned white where he was clutching the counter. After a long silence, which felt like a lifetime to her, he turned to look at her. His face carved in stone. His eyes determined. His voice cold, “I think it’s better if you leave now. Do you want me to call a cab for you?”

Yes. He was nice like that. Even when she was a pathetic human being, in an affair with her boss who is engaged to another woman who he cares for, he was a perfect gentleman. Even when he hated her. She did not deserve this niceness in her life. She shook her head and stumbled out of his apartment door. Her eyes were threatening to be spilled again. A big lump in her throat. Suddenly, all she wanted was to curl up in a ball in her bed and sleep. Sleep for hours. Maybe when she wakes up, she would find all these were some bad dream. Maybe she would find herself in her childhood bedroom wrapped in fluffy pink comforter that her mother tucked her into last night. Consciously she curled her palms around the sleeves his flannel shirt to prevent her nails from digging into the soft flesh.

She did not know how she got into a cab, how she reached home or fell on her bed. Her eyes were dry like a desert now. Sleep did not come. Neither did tears. She felt empty. The sort of emptiness one feels when their idea of something changes radically leaving them to question every step they have taken till now. She just laid there, her mind blank. Wrapped in the warm flannel that still carried scent of fresh coffee.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So I'm back. This chapter is quite long, not only in number of words but also in the turn of events. Please bear with me. And please please don't forget to let me know your thoughts in the comments.

_“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,_

_But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” -Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II_

Validation. It’s important in life. If you are not validated by someone or something, you might start feeling useless, a failure. But it’s also important to search for validation in right places. If you seek validation from wrong people or take a wrong path, it could destroy you. And the others around you.

Jughead did not know how long he sat still on the cold kitchen floor. Everything around him was white noise. The only important thing was that he lost. He could not protect Betty or Veronica from Archie. Because, he was too stupid to believe his best friend. He knew about Archie’s one night stands here and there. But he did always have faith in his friend that all these were temporary distractions until Archie comes to his senses. He has seen the Archie who had a heart of gold. He trusted that person to be there beneath all the chaos and resurface on its own again. He was wrong. Archie was already playing with Ronnie’s feelings. Now, he was playing with Betty’s heart too. He could not remain angry with Betty once he remembered all the things he did for Archie or for FP once. He cursed himself for suggesting Betty’s name ever to pick up those files, or praising her ability with numbers. If it was not for him, she would have never been in this hellhole in the first place. Clearly, it was his self-deprecation talking and he was going into spiral. And, that was it. Maybe he could still save both the women and Archie if he pushes himself out of this equation. This impossible, unsolvable equation. His unreciprocated feelings will only complicate it further. He is too close to this. He needs to be out of the problem and solve it objectively.

He found his backpack easily. Throwing only the essential clothes, favourite books and his camera in it, he packed it light. He locked the door and headed for Archie’s bachelor pad on his bike. Since the fight with Veronica over wedding plan, Archie never went back to their shared apartment. That means the only other place he could be in was their previous space that he shared with Archie once.

Archie was not very excited when he saw him.

“Look Jug, if it’s about last night…” he started. He held up one hand to cut him, “It’s not.” The redhead looked visibly relaxed, “Yeah. Ronnie was mistaken. There was no one with me there.”

His stomach twisted at the lie. Since when his loyal and honest best friend was so comfortable lying?

“I know everything”, he told in a matter of fact tone. Archie narrowed his eyes.

“I can’t believe you would stoop so low that you would fake a relationship with your own assistant to cajole her into helping you in your fraud.”

He could see the mortified expression on his friend’s face. But he did not stop. That was not all.

“And, how could you ever utter anything that would defile Ronnie? She has been on your side through thick and thin.”

A smooth voice came from behind him, “Wow Jones! Always protecting a lady’s honour!” Chuck Clayton’s taunting grin resulted in his gritted teeth. He hissed, “Ronnie is not a damsel in distress and she does not need anyone to protect her honour. Or did you forget about the last time you tried to mess with her?”

The curly haired boy was clearly not happy with the reminder. But he kept his snakelike gaze fixed on his face, “Then is it about the blonde? Do you actually care about a nobody like her? Come on Jones, even with _your_ background that is…”

Chuck trailed off the last part but it was enough to fuel his anger. Before he could stop himself, his fist hit Chuck hard in the jaw, sending the former college swimmer stumbling back. Archie caught him before he could land another punch on that bastard. He yanked himself out of Archie’s grasp and hissed, “This…this right there is your problem, Archie. You are looking for approval from wrong people.”

“Whoa! That’s rich coming from a murderer’s son”, Chuck retorted. This time he only gave him a death glare before turning back to Archie. His redhead friend was looking embarrassed and frantic.

“I did it to save the company. She knew all the secrets. I could not risk her babbling around.”

He had to give a humourless laugh at Archie’s explanation, “And you let her know all the secrets because you needed help and you knew that you could control her. By playing with her emotions. You know what, once I knew this guy, Archie Andrews. He was not perfect. But he always tried to do the right thing. He was my best friend. I owe my life to him. Not to you. And I sure as hell do not owe my dignity to anyone.”

“Jug”, the same pleading tone and puppy eyes that would win him any day have come back. “Please just don’t tell Ronnie. I will make this right.”

“Yeah, you will.” He was not to be won over today. After a slight pause, he added, “I quit. You will find my formal resignation letter on your desk Monday.”

By the time Archie grasped the implications of his words, his bike engine already revved to life, carrying him away from his former best friend. It was a risk. Forcing Archie to face the consequences of his own actions, alone. It could make him or break him. But either way, it would give Archie a push. He sincerely hoped his friend gets pushed in the right direction.

* * *

The security guard was taking a peaceful nap on his post when he parked his bike in an empty parking lot. He had to pack his books that were in his office and print his resignation email. Then he would be free. Free from this corporate culture. Far away from his unrequited feelings. Was he selfish in running away? Maybe he was. But he would make sure that both Veronica and Betty know the truth before it’s too late. It would hurt them no doubt. He was not worried for Veronica. She would pick up the shattered pieces of her heart and turn around to fight the world. He hoped Betty had the strength to face the truth too. He knew Veronica would be the best person to help her through it. He has only made things difficult till now. It’s time to untangle everything.

He discarded the finance books. His backpack would be able to hold only a small part of his collection. He found a cardboard box and stacked other books in that. He would ask someone to send this to his new location. Well, after he knows his new location. He did not decide what he would do next. Where he would go.

A photo fell from one of the books. A photo of the three of them. He did not have many pictures of them with him. It was the only one. It was Archie’s seventeenth birthday. Three of them huddled together raising their drinks to a promise. A promise that was broken too soon. A promise of lifelong friendship. A promise of following their dreams no matter what. This was before life threw a curveball at him.

********************************************************************************************************************************

_He was in the weekly reading salon at Stonewall Prep, arguing with one of his fellow students about their preferred authors in the genre of dark comedy. The overhead speaker burst into life announcing that his presence was required in Principal’s office. He could not remember one single thing for which he could be in trouble. He did not know that he was not in trouble, his whole life just got turned upside down. The Police officer in Principal’s office refused to tell him anything till they reached his mother’s house. The officer squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. His head started spinning at the sight. The whole area was crowded with police officers. Yellow tapes marking the crime scene. He has read articles about this kind of scenes. He has watched documentaries. But he never imagined himself being there as victim’s family. His mother’s body was covered in white sheet. They told that he needed to identify her. His mind was numb. None of the murmurs or stares were affecting him. He was concentrating on the body on the floor. A dead body. His mother’s dead body. They told him that his sister witnessed the murder. They were trying to talk to her. But she refused to utter a word. He saw his sister. Sitting at the corner of the kitchen, knees drawn to chest, arms wrapped around herself. Whenever anyone trying to touch her, she was flinching instantly, avoiding any sort of human touch or eye contact. He slumped on the floor beside her. She looked up at him. She did not recoil this time. A look of recognition and relief flickered in her eyes and she jumped in his arms in no time. She did not cry. She did not say anything. She simply buried her face in his neck and stayed there, refusing to answer any questions or look up. Later, she would tell him that it was him. Their father. He shot their mother. She saw the whole thing from behind kitchen counter where she was making the dough for cookies. Their father did not see her as he emptied his chamber on his wife. But her statement would not be admissible in court. Because, she was diagnosed with severe PTSD. She would not leave her brother’s side at any cost. She would hide from any other people. She would wake up every night with the same nightmare, screaming at top of her voice. She would not stop until her brother comes and holds her in his arms. He would work with the Police to prove his father’s guilt. He would blame himself when his father confessed and told that it was a payback, payback for stealing his boy from him. He was not able to complete his senior year. He did not graduate with his friends. But thankfully he would turn eighteen and get the custody of his sister. Fred and Mary Andrews would take them back to New York. They insisted them on staying in Andrews’ house. But he refused. He took up part time jobs in garage and café. He transferred back to his old school. There were sympathetic glances and pity whispers. He clenched his jaw and went through the final year, graduating a year later than he was initially supposed to. This whole time Archie and Veronica were with him. Veronica went to NYU to study business management. But she was always around, taking care of JB, buying household essentials when he either forgot or did not have money to buy. Archie did not go to college and stayed with them all the time. JB became comfortable with them, much to her brother’s relief. He could go to his jobs knowing Archie and Veronica would take turns to look after JB. It was hard. Looking after his younger sister, taking her to therapy sessions, managing multiple low paying jobs, being responsible to put food on their plates and paying for the apartment. After struggling for almost two years, Fred Andrews forced him to sit down and listen to his offer. He found a good facility for JB, they had specialized doctors to treat PTSD. She would be under watchful and trained eyes. He could not afford the facility. But Fred planned it through. Knowing his hesitation to take any monetary help from the Andrews’, he offered it as loan. For him, Fred planned a degree in Finance and then join their company as Finance head. Senior Andrews knew that he liked playing with numbers, so he insisted him to apply for a mathematical finance major in colleges. What that kind man did not know was he never wanted a career in numbers. But he did not have much choice left that time. Fred offered him a way out. The easiest way out. Get a degree in finance and get employed in Andrews’ Fashion House. His sister will be looked after. After he gets the job and saves enough money, he would be able to provide everything for his sister by himself. Fred Andrews was a second father to him, probably the only one after what FP had done, he could not afford to let Fred down and he did not. He gave his everything in his four years in Yale. He managed good grades and his degree. Life sort of compelled him into a corporate career, away from his dreams and plans._

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

But not anymore. It was another turn in life. And it was time for him to take the steering back. He printed his resignation letter quickly. Then sealed the envelope and started drafting an email to Veronica. He did not receive the calls from Archie in the last hour. He is not planning to change that anytime soon. He needs to ignore Veronica, Fred and Mary’s calls too. He was in no mental state to deal with Fred’s concern, Mary’s affection and Veronica’s demands to stay back.

But he has to make one call. To decide his next destination. He still does not know if it would be a temporary one or the rest of his life. Maybe he does not need to. She picked up on second ring.

“Hey Ton. Does your offer still stand?” he did not greet her before coming straight to the point. That was how it has always been for them. No small talks. No beating around the bushes.

“Always, Jug”, she replied without missing a beat. She did not ask any question or did not hesitate for a second.

He took a deep breath, “Okay. Let’s do it then.”

* * *

Veronica sat on the plush sofa in her living room, in her purple silk pyjama sets. She sipped her wine slowly while reading the email from Jughead for probably the tenth time. She did not shed a single drop of tear. She understood why he had to leave. And, she decided what she needed to do. By now she has memorized all the lines from his email.

_“Sometimes, for a child to realize the value of food, you need to make them feel the agony of hunger first. Running behind them with a silver spoon full of food would chase them away more, you need to starve them for them to grow the appetite. If I stand by his side now, protect him from everything, he would never understand what I am protecting him from. I have to leave him so that he can come out of the self-absorbed bubble. He has to understand that every action has its consequences, people can leave him, and they will. And it fucking hurts when they do. He needs to feel that loss, that pain. He needs to learn how to work to make them stay. He needs to take the responsibility of his own actions.”_

A knock on the front door prompted her to close the laptop lid. Archie came in with a bunch of tulips looking like a lost puppy. She greeted him sweetly and took the flowers from him. There was a fancy glass vase sitting on the table. She quietly started putting the flowers in water. Archie followed her closely. She went back to sit on the sofa once the flowers were set in the vase, legs crossed over at the ankle. She put on a formal smile, the kind of smile she keeps giving in front of media and stared at Archie with all her calm.

_“You are a queen, Ron. And you deserve to be treated like one. Don’t let anyone, including Archie, let you forget that.”_

Archie was wringing his hands nervously. He became red under her intense gaze. He sputtered his random words, “I…I am sorry…Did you hear from Jug...he left…sorry I fucked up.”

“Yes, you did”, she examined her perfectly manicured nails.

“But you will forgive me, right?” glimmer of hope shining through his eyes. “I promise, we will get married this fall. I will make everything right.”

“Who said I want to marry you?” She started loosening the ring in her finger. It was a perfect fit and tight after all these months.

His expression changed to a terrified one. “What…what do you mean? We always planned to get married.”

She laughed. She did not have to fake the laugh. She was amused at his thought process. How he could screw everything up royally and expect her to act normal.

“And where was you ‘tampering company’s financial data’ or ‘fake dating your assistant’ in our plan, Archiekins?” she raised one eyebrow at him.

He stood there dumbfounded. Maybe embarrassed. Maybe scared. He did not have any answer. She knew that. The ring slipped out of her finger. She extended her palm towards him with the diamond ring, “Here. You changed the plan as per your convenience. I’m throwing the plan away altogether.”

He looked at her with the same soft pleading eyes that he used when he proposed to her, when he asked her to join Andrews’ company, when he planned to spend their life together. Today, those eyes did not affect her. She already made up her mind. And, Veronica Lodge is nothing if not determined.

_“When your love and self-respect clash, it’s a tough choice. In a fair and ideal scenario, we would not need to choose between them. But we both know that life is not fair. Letting go does not mean you don’t care about them. It means the only control you have is over yourself, not others. I think it’s time to let go, Ron.”_

She inhaled sharply. Archie accepted the ring seeing her hard face. He slowly turned to leave. She called him back, “just a heads-up for you, I’m going to request for a full board meeting and nominate myself to be the next chairperson.”

He looked at her like a kicked puppy. She took few steps forward to place her hands on his shoulder gently and looked him in the eyes, “You love playing with fire, Archie Andrews. Don’t you? Well, my speciality is ice. See you in the meeting.”

She will let go but not without a fight. Not to win anyone, but to be the winner.

* * *

Betty could feel the shift in air when she came back on Monday. There were hushed conversations. She could not see Ethel or Midge around to ask about that. She felt her legs made of stone walking down on the corridor in third floor. She did not know how she would face Archie or Jughead today. She did not know how she faced herself during the weekend. But being holed up in her tiny apartment was much more depressing than being in office. Archie did not bother to send her non-stop texts after Friday’s dinner disaster. She was really thankful for that. She had time to self-reflect. Whatever she was doing could not go on. She needed to talk to Jughead about the false data. She needed to face the result of her choices. He would be angry. He would probably terminate her employment. She deserved it. She was not afraid of the truth anymore. She was not afraid to lose anything anymore. It was time to take accountability of her actions.

Something was not right in office. She was walking with her eyes glued to floor but she just felt some change. She looked around. It was the cabin labelled as MD, Finance. The door was half open. The shelves inside were empty. She could not understand what happened. Where did all the books go? But she did not have the courage to face him yet.

So, she kept walking towards the Chairman’s office. She tidies up her boss’s table every morning, checking the documents, placing any important file on top of the pile for him to look at. Today, there was a brown envelope on the desk. It was addressed to The Chairman, Andrews Fashion House. The subject was typed on the envelope, **Notice of Resignation – Jughead**. She stilled on the spot. Suddenly, she felt loss of air around her. The reality sank in her mind. It was too late. He was not in office. He would never come back here. She would never have the chance to tell him the truth. The last words he told her was for her to leave his house. She could not imagine the office without him. Suddenly the realization hit her with full force that he was her friend. Her only friend in office. Not Ethel, not Midge, not even Fangs made her as much comfortable as he did. He was her safe haven. She placed the envelope back like it would burn her fingers and dragged herself to her cabin.

Strangely enough, her desk was having a pink rose bouquet, a small teddy clutching a heart shaped pillow and a card. She frowned at that. The card said, “ _Thanks for Friday. It was the best night of my life_. - _Archie_ ”

Her whole body cringed at the words. What does this mean? She did not even spend ten minutes with Archie on Friday. Before she could interpret the meaning of it, the desk phone rang. She picked it up mechanically. It was a florist shop. Apparently a fancy one. The cheery voice informed her that they were sorry to call Archie Andrews office, but his personal number was not reachable. They were out of red roses, so they had to send pink roses instead but they gave a teddy as complimentary gift. They hoped it was okay with Mr. Andrews. They were very pleased to do business with him and they would eagerly wait for the next greetings card that is to be sent with the delivery. She might have zoned out a little. _Card. Flower. Red Roses_. The man on the other end apologized repeatedly until she disconnected the line with a loud click.

She looked at the bouquet again for a long time before a terrifying comprehension dawned on her. Jughead’s words echoing in her mind, “ _Have you ever thought who you are to him?_ ” Who was she to Archie? Did Archie plan to sleep with her on Friday? But they did not, then why the card was there? On a whim, she rushed back to her boss’s office and started searching. She did not know what she was searching for. She opened his drawers. None of the drawers were locked but it was still invading his private space. But she did not care today. She opened all the drawers before she found a small folder. A folder labelled as “Betty Cooper”. Even before she opened that, she knew what it was. Her palms curled into fists, nails digging into the soft skin. The folder had a collection of cards and few paper notes. The cards read, “Your lips taste so good”, “I never knew I could feel this good before I did it with you”, “Our first time was amazing. Thank you for the experience, Betty.” There were others. Probably more flattering comments about sexual experiences that they never had. She did not know. She did not want to know. She stood there, clutching the edges of the table thinking how she could be so stupid. She felt humiliated and utterly destroyed. The man even did not bother to hide the proofs of his lies. The only question she kept asking herself was why. Why did he do this to her? She never harmed him in any ways. Hell, she did not even ask for a raise. Then, why? Then it occurred to her, the audit. She helped him to cover up the actual records. He was making sure she kept helping him. _By faking his emotions for her? by making a fool of her?_ _It was all a lie. Not even a short-lived attraction. An intricate lie._ She felt every ounce of energy leaving her body. A crushing pang in her chest. No tears. They left her eyes two days ago. Just an unbearable sting in her eyes. Her breathing heavy. She was losing the rhythm of her breathing quickly. Leaving her gasp for air.

The door of the office swung open. But she could not care less. Neither her body nor her mind was in a condition to acknowledge the petite brunette who hurried inside and held her. She heard a soft voice, “Breathe, Betty. Breathe with me. In. One two three. Out. Come on.” She followed the voice and tried to focus on her breathing. She was in a haze. She did not know who she was following. But the slow breathing calmed her down. She regained her heartbeats. She regained her vision. And, then only she could see the person holding her. It was Veronica Lodge. Looking elegant and impeccable as ever.

The folder slid from her hands. It landed on the floor with a soft thud. Before she could react, Veronica kneeled down to pick it up. When she saw the contents of the folder, her face knotted with revulsion in the same way as Jughead’s did. She wanted to tell Veronica that none of these were true. She never slept with Archie. She never wanted to. They never even shared a kiss except the one where Archie was drunk out of his wits. But her throat refused to make any sound. She stood there with horrified wide eyes. Mentally slapping herself thousand times. Drown in self-loathing. Expecting a slap on the face from Veronica. But Veronica did not do anything. She simply placed the folder back on the table and touched her arm lightly, “You are good now?”

She nodded before words toppled out of her mouth, “This is not what you think. Please trust me this is not what it looks like.”

“I know. I trust you”, Veronica replied simply. How could she be so forgiving and polite standing amidst the betrayal and pettiness?

“I did not want you to find it like this.” The raven-haired woman spoke softly.

She could not understand how Veronica remained so calm. Her eyes darted to Veronica’s left hand absentmindedly and she was horrified to see the empty ring finger. Was she the reason for it? She wanted nothing but a gaping hole in earth to swallow her completely. She was not ready to face the world. To handle any human interaction. And then the strangest proposition came from Veronica, “Let’s have lunch today.”

If she ordered her to drink poison, that would have been a better one.

By lunchtime words spread about Jughead’s resignation, Veronica running for next chairperson and Andrews-Lodge breakup. There were so many rumours floating around. Some involved a love triangle between Archie, Veronica and some unknown model. Some was more concerned with Jughead’s real identity, he never used his surname and Jughead could not be anyone’s real name. Midge called her desk to relay all these stories. Betty felt sick to her stomach. It was all for her. She deserved all the punishment. She deserved to be thrown out of the company. She made up her mind before stepping out for lunch with Veronica and took the original sales copies and financial reports out from her drawer. She packed them in her purse.

She has always feared this woman from far away. But up close, Veronica was quite a likeable person. She talked to every staff in the restaurant they went to, they all replied her with warm smiles. After some time, Betty understood that Veronica owned this restaurant. It was one of the establishments of Lodge Industries. She was not a fearsome boss to her employees, specially the elder ones. They all respected and adored her.

After chewing and swallowing a fork full of pasta, Veronica looked at her straight, “Do you want to tell me something, Betty?”

She did not know how she knew. But she did not need to. She opened her purse and handed her the files without a word. She accepted the files with all Veronica Lodge grace and flipped through them before shoving them into her own purse.

“Thanks for this”, she gave her a tight-lipped smile. Betty could not help but blurt out, “I’m sorry for all these. I feel like a horrible person. I’m a horrible person. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Her rapid rambling got cut short by a gentle touch of the Latina’s hand on hers. She had an understanding expression on her face, “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Betty. You believed in wrong people. You made a terrible mistake. You paid for it. Move on.”

“But how can I”, she squeaked. She deserved to be fired. Or, at least suspended. Or, some drastic legal action against her. How could she move on? How could Veronica move on without the ring in her finger? Was it so easy for her to brush off the break up and the rumours and hold her head high? Competing against her ex-fiancée? Ready to take on the world after getting her heart broken by the man she loved?

“It’s never easy”, Veronica took a sip of her water. Betty stared at her open mouthed. Did she actually voice her thoughts by chance? Or, this woman was a mind reader too? She continued, “It will never be an easy task. But making it to look like one is the trick.” The brunette smiled at her.

She found herself opening up to Veronica. Telling her everything. How Archie approached her, persuaded her, made her feel special. How she foolishly fell for his words. She did not hold back anything. She wished that she could tell all these to Jughead too. But, too late for that now. As she talked about the whole incident, she was feeling stupid. So stupid. How could she fall for the trap. How could she not see that it was all a ruse to coax her into helping him. She was again surprised by the park avenue princess when she did not judge her. Neither did she pity her. She was sympathetic and understanding.

Later that day, she went to Veronica’s office to give some files she requested for. She noted a printout pinned to her softboard.

“ _Being broken is inevitable. We all are broken inside in one way or the other. It’s our ability to hide our scars and choose our battles, that makes us the survivor_.” 

She never read those lines before. But she liked it very much. Veronica noticed her looking at the note for too long. She chuckled sadly. Betty has never seen her sad till now. Calm. Angry. Friendly. Authoritative. Never sad. But there was a genuine sadness on her face now as she spoke in a soft voice, “I copied these lines from my best friend’s unfinished novel. He always wanted to be an author. But life got in the way.” With a heavy sigh she added, “Hope, he would be able to finish it now.”

 _Jughead_. Betty should have understood as soon as she read those lines. He was a philosopher. He was a cynic. He was an artist. And, he was an avid reader. Who else could describe life in such a way?

* * *

He felt exhausted as Florida welcomed him with a hot sunny day. It was a long drive on his bike. He had to stop for the night at a roadside motel. Toni is sharing an apartment with Cheryl but she insisted him to stay with them till he gets a place of his own. He had more pressing concerns than getting a place for himself. He had to arrange something for his sister. He contacted JB’s regular doctor in the trauma centre last night. She assured him that his sister was doing very well. If he wants, he could take her with him. But he needed to make sure that he is in constant contact with some expert in case anything happens. It was a new place. Different from Toledo. Different from New York. He hoped that JB would like it here. For last several visits she has been nagging him to take her home. She accepted the fact that home was not in Toledo. Or with their mother. On last visit, both of their eyes were moist when she told, “You are my home, Jug. We don’t have our parents but we at least have each other.” He promised her to release from facility and bring her home soon. He was intent on keeping his promise. He knew how hard it was for JB. Their mother’s death. Watching the murder happening in front of her eyes. And that was not the end of it. He worked with the police officers for months to get the justice for their mother. Also, to ensure that FP pays not only for one murder, but for all illegal activities he was involved in as a gang leader. When FP was arrested, his father’s gang took an attempt on their lives. His sister was already unstable, recovering from the trauma. The sound of gunshots in a quiet night sent her over the edge. She lost her mental balance completely for the following weeks. But even at her worst, she always remembered Jughead as her secured shelter. They were under police protection after that until FP’s trial was over. It was Fred who insisted on sending her to the facility years later, the same time he went for college. He now knows that was a wise decision. It stung at that time. They only had each other. But as with each visit, he saw his sister getting better, remembering more things and accepting life as it is, he felt glad that he listened to Fred at that time and not solely relied on their therapist alone. They spent six years away from each other. It was time for Jones siblings to start living their lives, together. He vaguely wished for their mother to see this. Both her children surviving a storm and coming out of it as stronger people. She would have been proud of them.

Toni hugged him with the same welcoming smile, he is used to. She crunched her nose and poked him in the rib, “You’re stinking.”

“Can you blame me? It’s sweltering outside”, he shot back. He was drenched in sweat. Water droplets dripping from his hair. He felt dirty and sticky.

Toni was warm as always. He could not say the same for Cheryl though. She was loud, glittery and wearing ridiculously fancy outfit for such a hot day. She had silky fiery-red hair flowing over her shoulders. He could not help but think about Veronica. Cheryl was a lot different than her. But maybe they were both similar in a way. He remembered his early days with Veronica, they both were at each other’s throat always. Cheryl represented wealth and privilege just like his pearl princess friend did. He despised her before knowing her life story. So, maybe Cheryl has her story too. Because, he could not imagine Toni being in a relationship with a rich drama queen without a soft heart. Thankfully, when he came out of shower, she already left for her work.

“You will like her once you break through her hard exterior”, Toni handed him his coffee as he reappeared in their living room. They had a big apartment, ornately decorated with red velvet curtains, red paints and red carpet. Clearly, red was Cheryl’s colour.

“What’s the exterior made of? Six inches thick iron?” he asked sipping his coffee. His friend smacked his chest in response.

* * *

It was different working with Veronica. Much more than she thought it would be. After whatever Archie did to her, she was terrified at the idea of working under him. Although he did not come to office after the weekend that changed it all. His official resignation came the same week Jughead resigned. Within two weeks, in the next board meeting, Veronica was voted as the next chairperson unanimously. She did not know how Veronica used those files she gave to her or how she handled Nick St Claire. But Archie was not thrown in jail. He was not a member of board anymore though. In those two weeks Betty searched for jobs as best as she could do. She did not want to be stuck in this company irrespective of who her immediate boss was.

Kevin blamed himself for whatever happened to her. Kevin has always been protective about her. When he came back from his Europe trip and found a devastated Betty as the aftermath of all the events, he was shocked to the shell. As she told him everything, he screamed with “How could you be so foolish Betty?” “Why did not you tell me sooner?” “I’ll kill that bastard with my bare hands” and “I’m so sorry sweetheart” in exactly that order. She knew that no one but herself to be blamed for what happened. She was idiotic to fall for a well-known womanizer. She was relieved when Archie did not show up in those two weeks. But being in this company meant facing him some day was inevitable. So, she searched for finance jobs. She was ready to take job in any small company even with a shitty pay. But the day Veronica was made the chairperson, she met with her personally. She requested her to stay in the company for some more time and help her to reshape the financial department. After Jughead left, they were to hire some outside person for the job. She wanted Betty to help her stabilize the financial condition of the company and clear the mess Archie created before that. She even took the trouble to create a position of Special Financial Advisor for her. This was the least Betty could do for her. She was glad to help. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to forgive herself a little if she could help Veronica restore the old glory of this company.

Veronica was a hard worker herself. And she valued other people for their effort. Betty could see how the chaotic situation was starting to change under Veronica Lodge’s leadership. She worked closely with the corporate diva. To her surprise, they actually got acquainted pretty well. Soon, she found herself considering Veronica as one of her closest companions. The air between them was not heavy with professional hierarchy, it was friendly and they had mutual respect for one another. She helped Veronica to restore the sinking ship of Andrews’ Fashion House. She worked to repair the damage she has made once under the influence of Archie. And the two women connected in that process. She told Veronica about her nervous breakdowns and anxiety. Her dream of making a name for herself in finance world. Her lack of self-esteem. Her failed interviews. And she listened to her struggle to get out of her father’s criminal influence. She learnt more about Veronica’s childhood, her personal life, her friendship with Archie and Jughead. Veronica told her about the time she first knew her father was a criminal kingpin. She told her that Jughead was the only one she had closest to a brother. She listened to the time when in a party, Chuck Clayton tried to sexually assault Veronica taking advantage of her drunken state. Archie was passed out on a nearby couch, not caring for the world. Her kick sent Chuck on the floor groaning in pain. And, Jughead broke his nose with a powerful punch. Veronica told her stories about the old Archie who was the most loyal person in whole world. And, she told how she was broken first time finding about the changed man.

She understood. They all were normal people under the sparkle of glamour just like the rest of the world. Archie. Veronica. Jughead. They all had their battle scars. While Archie took a twisted path to seek validation in wrong places to overcome his uncertainties, Jughead chose a creative one to convert his negativity into something constructive. But Veronica? Veronica made it her strength, she wore her painful past like an armour and ruled the battlefield. Betty felt her admiration for this woman growing ten-fold. And, she was ashamed of herself. She believed Chuck Clayton over this woman once. She fell for Archie’s attractiveness even after knowing his reputation. She put her faith in wrong people when this woman was right here to help her. _Jughead_ was always there to help her. She just had to reach out to them.

Veronica helped her to learn how to love oneself, how to fight and how to be selfish at times. She brought back the trust and innocence to Veronica’s ever-fighting corporate life.

With her new found confidence when she met Archie after almost two months, who came to attend a meeting in the absence of Fred Andrews, she did not have a meltdown as she expected earlier. She flinched, yes. She tried to avoid him, yes. But that did not affect her presentation in board meeting with Veronica. Archie looked much more uncomfortable than her. He did not meet anyone’s eye and left as soon as the meeting ended.

Finally, after few more months, she got a job offer from one of the most reputed financial companies. She was in tears. It was happy tears but the sadness of leaving these amazing people behind was mingled in it. She never thought walking away from Andrews’ Fashion House could be so painful. She would miss the lunch time gossips with Ethel and Midge. She would miss seeing Fangs absorbed in his creative bubble and teasing him about it. But it was strange that she felt she would miss Veronica the most. She never fully understood the importance of their heart to heart talks before. And, she would miss Jughead. He was not here in person, but his presence was there. Always reminding her about the little friendly chats they shared, times when she looked for his suggestions, and that last night. Their conversation under the starry sky. The sunrise that looked like a new promise and ended in broken hearts.

The only thing she wanted to ask Veronica, but could not, was Jughead’s whereabouts. What he was doing. How he was coping up. She knew that she should not. He was too good for her, too gentle. She had no doubt that he hated her. She was the reason his friends were separated. She was the reason he left the company.

Probably, a new start would be good for her after all.

* * *

He had no idea that Toni would be having so many connections. He suspected that some of them are through Cheryl. Cheryl and him have fallen into easy synchronism around each other. They were not friends yet, but their initial heated banters were becoming less with every fleeting day. And he started to secretly admire her after one day he returned to his apartment to a worried Cheryl taking care of JB who was down with food poisoning.

His sister was happy with the change of scenery. She clung to him in initial days. But it did not take much time for her to get comfortable around the ‘power couple’, as Cheryl referred themselves. She started taking online classes for her college education. She was a tech savvy girl. She helped them to edit and rework on the photos once they started their magazine. They started it as a web only magazine. It was not easy, setting up the website, deciding on the subject matter. It took several months before they could actually manage to publish the first online edition. He wrote articles and took some freelancing photography assignments in the meantime. It was not only a photography journal as they initially planned. He wrote small pieces on one or two specific pictures, some friend of Toni wrote a technical column on photographic equipment and it featured lots of good photos. Soon, the number of subscribers increased. With the number reaching higher with each passing month, they finally decided to try for a monthly printed version.

This experience was liberating for him. They had their relaxed time schedule. They had opinions about what will be printed in each edition. He could spend a whole week outdoor, taking snaps that interested him and the next two weeks inside his apartment, chatting with his sister and watching movies while she helped with editing his work. They still did not forgive their father. They never visited him. He never accepted calls from him. But he was not concerned for that part. There might be one day when he would be able to listen to FP’s voice and not feel angry. But that day is yet to come. And he had no rush. He had his sister with him, that was enough for the time being.

After he left New York, he went back only once to pick JB up from the facility. That day he met with Veronica. He knew that she would become the next chairperson easily. She was born to rule. JB remembered her. She was delighted to see her again. They laughed, they cried, they made promises like they were seventeen again and he was moving away for the senior year. They both looked at one empty chair of the four-seater table at that thought and sighed. But they did not talk about Archie. He wanted to ask about Betty. How she was doing. Was she too heartbroken? But he did not. He felt responsible for not being able to protect her in the first place. Veronica told him that she was still working in the company. She was helping her to restore company’s reputation and profit. So, maybe she was stronger than he thought. He truly hoped, she was. He went to meet Fred and Mary. He would not have blamed them if they loathed him. He left without any forwarding address after all the support Andrews’ showed to him. But they did not. They pulled him and JB into their warm embraces like their childhood days.

He had a lot of time to work on his novel now. Being away from the busy city life renewed the flow of inspiration inside him. He was hopeful to finish it at last. Although the ending of story had changed. It was now having a character with blonde ponytail and green doe eyes. The character that will help his protagonist understand the meaning of the journey called life. She would remind him the importance of simple things. The rain. The wildflower. The perfect night breeze on summer days. She would teach him to trust again. She would make him dare to hope again. Her touch would heal the cracks in his soul beautifully. She would be the light to his darkness. They were not meant to be. Their choices led them away from each other. Maybe they were destined to run in parallel always. But even when they were not together, he lived for her. He lived on the memories. Memories of few stolen glances. Memories of her soft voice. Memories of that one night that changed everything.

* * *

His fingers stopped moving and a smile appeared on his face thinking back to those days. Calmness washed over him with the remembrance. He fell asleep on his laptop with the dreams of another sunrise over the horizon.

Sleep did not come to her as she was excited for her new job starting next day. She wrapped the soft fabric of the flannel shirt around her for comfort like she does every time she feels restless. Even after so many months, she was instantly drowned in the smell of coffee beans and familiar warmth.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we are almost at the end of the story if anyone is still reading this...please leave your thoughts in the comments

The phone call was a surprise. It’s been more than four years since she left Andrews’ Fashion House. She left her first real job to fulfil her dreams. She worked for top tier financial company for four years after that. Rising quickly on the ladder with her intelligence and perseverance. But after the years of long office hours, chasing targets and working with world economy made her realize that this life was not for her. She wanted to make an impact. On the society. She wanted to help people. She wanted her knowledge and talent to be put into something positive. If she could not make a difference, if she could not make people’s lives at least a little better then what’s the point of making money? Her impossible work pressure kept her from seeing her family often. She did not have time for herself. She did not read a book for so long. She did not listen to music in peace for three years. She even drifted apart from the very few friends she had. All these sacrifices just to sit back and see rich people getting richer. So, she decided to put a stop to this and follow her heart. She joined an NGO few months back, helping to manage and restructure their finance model. She was not much worried about the pay now. Her brother managed to turn around their business at hometown. Her student loans were paid. She happily compromised her lucrative package for her passion.

During all these, she lost touch with Veronica like others. They still wished each other on birthdays and new years in text. But that was it. So, when her phone buzzed on a lovely fall morning with unknown caller id, she did not expect it to be Veronica Lodge. She knew that Andrews’ Fashion House was on news now, although the name changed to become Andrews-Lodge Fashions. Veronica has managed to save the sinking ship and transform it into a luxury cruise. Her company was much bigger now. The business flourishing in every way. They were all over America. Everyone who was even remotely aware about fashion world, knew her name. They opened exclusive boutiques in all big cities. Betty herself owned one fancy dress from Andrews-Lodge Fashions brand. It was lovely. Fangs gifted it to her on her birthday. Kevin gushing about his husband’s designer skills.

“Good Morning, Betty. How are you?” It was funny how even after all these years, Veronica’s voice delivered the same amount of business and cheerfulness mixed in one. She was happy to hear her voice. After getting accustomed in corporate world, she understood how lucky she was in making real friends in her first job. It was a world of targets and competition and sometimes backstabbing too. But her proposal threw Betty off-guard. She wanted her to be their model for next collection.

“Excuse me?” she was sure that it was either a classic Veronica Lodge prank or she misheard. But the woman was persistent in her proposal. She explained that they were launching this collection for people who are not super rich or privileged. It was for girls next door. And she was a perfect fit to be their model. They did not want anyone famous or gorgeous. They wanted someone fresh and pure. Like her. She knew that she was not the same naïve Betty Cooper who appeared for an interview in Andrews’ Fashion House five years ago. But she still had that all-American vibe. Still the same old shy and simple girl, if only a little more confident now. If it were any other person, she would have laughed at their face. But it was Veronica Lodge. She owed her for giving her a chance at her company years ago after she messed up badly. Also, it felt really good to hear her voice after so many years. She sounded sincere and she was insistent. So, Betty decided to give it a try. Just for fun. If it was anyone, she would risk looking like a fool for, it would obviously be Veronica. She promised to keep the photoshoot on a Saturday anyways. Betty could not turn down one of the first real friends she had in the industry. She did not want to.

After she promised to be there on time for the shoot on next Saturday and Veronica assured that she would pay her enough to compensate missing a Saturday date jokingly, they said goodbyes. She did not really have a date on Saturday. Her weekends were mostly occupied with her books and her baking sprees. She did date though, while working for the big companies. But it was tough to juggle professional and personal life then. And nobody apparently understood her decision of leaving the big pay for working in an NGO.

All of a sudden, she felt a thrill thinking about the photoshoot. Last time, she was there as an employee, admiring the supermodels from a distance. This time, she was going to be in the centre. She wondered if Toni Topaz was still their photographer. Thinking about Toni brought the thoughts about Jughead.

She has been a subscriber for both their online magazine and printed one. She found their magazine by accident. It was another one of her dates setup by Kevin. The guy was one from his drama team. He was easy to talk to and funny. But it did not quite light a spark. They went on few dates and that’s all. But this guy, Chris, talked about the journal he took a liking to. He showed her the first printed version of the magazine with amazing photos. It was not a conventional photography journal. It had few columns written by various writers. Editorials, exposés and technical articles. Her eyes were glued to the cover photo and the photographer’s watermark printed in the corner. It was a familiar style landscape. A vast area of gravels devoid of any sign of life and an olive green sprout highlighted in the middle of the frame. Life over death. Hope over despair. She refuses to accept that the journal was the reason she came home faking a headache that night.

They did an incredible job of updating their subject matters with time. They addressed global issues through their photography and short articles. She was happy for him. She knew his talent as a photographer. But seeing him put that talent to good use, made her proud of him. She also read his novel. She dared to think that blonde girl as herself. But she knew that was not her. Maybe an image of her that he trusted and believed in. She broke that trust badly. She was not worth it. He published under the nickname ‘J.J.’ She saw the book, titled as “The days of our lives” on the shelf while browsing the new collection in her favourite book store. The store owner informed her that it was some new author but the book was already in New York Times bestseller list. Intrigued by the information, she flipped the book to read the synopsis on back cover and she immediately recognized the words, “… _It’s our ability to hide those scars and choose our battles, that makes us the survivor_.” She still remembered. She recited those lines in her head at times of fear and failure. But the next lines fascinated her more.

“ _But sometimes it’s okay to show your scars. Sometimes it’s okay to lose a battle. Because, ultimately life is not a war to be won but a journey to be cherished_. _Beth taught him that_.”

Beth, was the blonde angel in his novel.

****************************************

Her thrill somewhat converted to nervous energy as she reached her old office early morning. The building was renovated and redesigned reflecting Veronica Lodge elegance now. She once again felt like that anxious girl in ponytail who came for interview here five years ago. She smiled to herself at that thought and brushed her fingers through her loose hair. There was a new girl in the reception and when she heard her name, she looked at her for a good ten minutes making her self conscious all over again. But then another new girl appeared who claimed to be Veronica’s assistant and ushered her to the photoshoot lounge where Veronica would come to meet her. She took in the drastic changes in office décor. It was all bright and classy now. She wondered briefly about her small antechamber. What happened to that place? As they reached the lounge area, decorated with casual and relaxing seating arrangements, her heart stopped beating altogether. The lighting crew was already setup. And the photographer was there, taking practice shots to test the light. It was not Toni. The too familiar tall and wiry frame with a mess of black hair and intense sapphire eyes turned to face her and froze on spot.

* * *

It was a sunny morning of late August. A lazy Sunday. He was planning for a trip to the beach with his sister. More accurately, he was weighing her offer for a drive to beach and treat at his favourite burger joint against staying back at home and cooking pasta by himself. Going to beach was not really a good option considering the hot and humid weather. But then there was the promise for burger. Jughead Jones can be bought with the promise for food on any day. Their doorbell rang breaking his serious deduction process. He opened the door to see his raven-haired best friend in a black gown, vintage styled long gloves and an antique hat, radiating ’50-s vibes all around her. He snickered, “Nice hat, _Bacall_.” The idea that he could be able to avoid that beach trip but eat at a fancy restaurant getting clear in his head.

*****************************************************

Veronica had come to meet him many times in last five years. He met her whenever he went to New York for his meetings with publishers and then for book signings. He stayed at the luxurious Lodge Mansion guestroom every time he was there. He also met Archie. The redhead came all the way to Florida few months after he left. He did not ask him how he got the address. He knew that his friend was sorry. He had no doubt about that. But after the last big mess up, only sorry was not enough. Thankfully, Archie knew that too. He did not ask for forgiveness or another chance. He engulfed his friend in a warm hug and stood there silently for few moments. Just as he was getting worried about dying in the arms of his friend from lack of air, Archie pulled back, a small smile on his lips. He admitted that he knew he spoiled everything and he did not know how to rectify his mistakes, where to start. But he needed Jughead back in his life, “I won’t be able to survive without my best friend, Jug. I know you might not be able to forgive me now. And I’m working on that. But please just let me be there in your life. No more lies, no more secrets. I promise.”

“You’ll always be there, Arch”, he patted his friend on back, swallowing the lump in his throat. And it was true. Their twenty five years of friendship was not something to be thrown away over last couple of years.

It was still not like childhood days. But it was a start. They played video games. Archie made hot chocolate. He made pizza. JB beat them in all the latest games. They did not talk about New York. Or, Veronica. Or, Betty. Archie asked him about his photography and next steps. His novel, if he gets time now to write it. He listened to Archie’s plan of getting back to his music. His lyrics. His songs. He brought the guitar with him. After dinner, three of them gathered in their small living room and Archie played his songs. Old songs from high school. The songs which he always disliked for being so sappy. But now it felt so good with the hint of nostalgia. JB fell asleep a little after midnight. Two of them stayed awake. Another round of video game. Another bowl of popcorn. Another episode of The Office.

Before Archie left, he squeezed his shoulders and told, “You know you hurt Ronnie badly, right?”

The redhead smiled sadly, “I know, Jug. I hurt a lot of people. I ruined everything. But I will go to any length to make this up to her. I will wait forever if she wants me back in her life.”

This time he felt the honesty in Archie’s voice. The sad look was genuine. This is what he wanted when he left New York. He wanted Archie to feel the pain but not get broken. He wanted Archie to realize his mistakes. He was happy that it worked. Maybe someday Veronica would be able to forgive Archie, his friend would be able to win his high school sweetheart back. This time, nothing will go wrong between those two.

*****************************************************

It was when they had delicious food items filling their table in a moderately fancy restaurant that both him and Veronica agreed upon, she brought up the topic of her next collection which will come to stores in the end of Fall. And, she demanded him to be the official photographer.

“I don’t do fashion photography. What’s wrong with Toni anyways?” he dismissed her. She gave him one of her enigmatic smiles, “This time I want it to be different.”

He eyed her suspiciously, “By different do you mean disastrous? Because, I am a landscape guy, if I do this, it would be disastrous.”

But she was determined that she needed only him. She told him that this collection was very close to her heart. She promised that she would give him full freedom for photography. Even after that he was hesitant, then she dropped her bait, “We will make it an outdoor shoot. Anywhere you choose.” And with that he was sold. He could not refuse an outdoor photoshoot offer when Veronica Lodge is paying for the destination. They decided to start with some indoor photos and then take it to outdoor. When his raven-haired friend asked him which location he would prefer for photoshoot, his traitor brain supplied the name of “Riverdale”. He did not know why. There were so many beautiful places he could have chosen. He wanted to see Betty’s hometown, that was true. But that was in another life. That was with her walking by his side and eagerly explaining every significant spot in the town. Her emerald green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm while she speaks animatedly. Too late to back off now. He shook his head. Veronica raised her eyebrows with an amused expression, “What’s in Riverdale?”

He shrugged, “Nothing. It’s a small town, an hour drive from New York.”

She chuckled, “Okay, Jug. Whatever you want.”

JB did not want to come with him. Instead, she preferred to stay back with Toni and Cheryl. They got married last year and moved to a beachside condo. But they still were just a short drive away and always around. He was more than relieved to leave JB with them. Because, he did not want the busy city life taking a toll on his sister’s mind. She has become used to the peaceful living here. Also, he won’t be around to take care of her as he would be doing his job. He was packing his suitcase, three weeks after Veronica’s visit. The weather has turned a little cooler to reflect the change of season. JB came with a mischievous grin and threw some colourful shirts and t-shirts along with few condoms on top of his clothes. He was so shocked with her antics that he could not react for a long time. The young girl smacked his arm playfully and said, “Live a little, big brother.”

He rolled his eyes. He knew that it was probably Cheryl’s idea of teasing him. Whenever their arguments get heated the redhead girl would huff in annoyance and say, “get laid J.J, you are becoming intolerable.” She knew his backstory. Toni told her everything. But she accepted it as a common knowledge. She never called them ‘Jones.’ And, she never called him ‘Jughead’. She is the only person in whole world who started calling him ‘J.J’. Later, he used the same name while writing his novel. He was still not ready to be seen as a Jones. J.J. was nice as a penname.

He gave his sister a chastising look and closed the bag with more force than necessary.

*****************************************************

The building he has seen from the day he was born and worked in for nearly one year, has changed drastically. It was now a modern structure full of latest amenities. Veronica has redecorated the entire interior. He wondered if she hired any renowned interior designer for this job. He did not see any known faces in the reception or lobby. Five years is a long time. As he was setting up his camera, some familiar faces from finance department gathered around him. He worked with them regularly when he was leading the department. They all told that they missed working with him, that he was a good leader. He was more than pleased to hear that. He never imagined anyone thought anything but ‘broody and loner’ about him. They all praised Veronica’s vision and execution. He could not be prouder for her. There was a time when he hated coming to this office, but now it felt good. Maybe, time does rearrange our feelings. He is not used to working with a lighting crew as his area of work relies on natural lights. But the crew was helpful. He setup his camera and started taking snaps to test the lighting. He wanted a natural mix of light and shadow. He instructed the crew as they adjusted their equipment to create the perfect light.

He felt her presence even before he saw her. He had no explanation how he could feel the green doe eyes staring at his head. But he spun around in reflex. And there she was. Beautiful as ever. Gold waves framing the perfect face, curious eyes full of innocence and a surprised expression.

* * *

Her heart was so full that she feared it would burst open. A range of emotions crossed her mind. Surprise. Happiness. Embarrassment. Fear. Hope. The last one lingered. Maybe he was not as mad at her as she thought. His expression did not scream angry. He looked as baffled as her. She did not know about him doing fashion photography. All his published work revolved around nature. He looked good. He was in his grey t-shirt and black chinos, a plaid shirt tied around his waist. His inky hair ruffled with the unruly curl hanging over his eyes. He played with the camera strap around his neck.

“Hi”, she broke the silence first. His response was instant, “Hey.” After a few moments, he added, “Do you…do you still work here?”

She might have been a little disappointed that he did know nothing about her life while she kept tab on him in spite of his very limited social media presence. But she understood. Her life was not published. And he was barely on any social platform. Another small part of her nagged, _why would he want to know about you? You ruined his friends’ engagement, remember?_ She chased that voice out of her mind.

“No. I…Um…Actually I’m supposed to be the model for this shoot.” She informed him shyly. His mouth hung open. She knew that anyone would be shocked at that. She did not blame him.

“I know this is crazy”, she said with a nervous laugh.

“No”, he regained his composure. “Not crazy at all. You look perfect, Betty.” Her stomach did a little somersault. She could not help the blush tainting her cheeks. His tone was neither flirty nor formal. He had that genuine truthfulness in his voice as always. She never remembered him doing anything for social or corporate convention. He hired her because he thought that she was a deserving candidate. He made it very clear on numerous occasions. He helped her because he was a helpful person. And he was brutally honest even on the last day when he did not fake his approval or sympathy on her relationship with Archie. His words still ring in her ears, “ _Have you ever thought who you are to him?_ ”

She feared it might be awkward. But it was not. He was open and friendly as before. If anything, he was more relaxed. He took some casual shots of her before Veronica walked in and clasped her hands in front of her face in excitement, “I see, you two have already met. Wonderful!”

* * *

It was Betty Cooper. All flesh and blood. He could not believe his eyes. He did not know if she worked here till now but he assumed she did not. She was a talented girl. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she would get offer from any prominent financial company. He wished that for her. Away from this company where her hopes and dreams were crushed, feelings were played with. Making a name for herself in bigger world just as she pictured. She looked fresh like her first day. The smell of earth surrounding her. But this time an air of confidence was there. It was not the naïve and terrified girl he knew back then. She was a confident woman now. She was in cream white sweater paired with cropped jeans and white trainers. She told that she did not work here anymore but she was the model. For a moment, he was taken aback. He did not think modelling would be a career she would ever choose. Then it struck him. Of course, it was Veronica. She told that the collection was special. She did not say what special meant. It might be Veronica only meddling in his business trying to ‘fix’ his love life, or the collection actually demanded a fresh face and she decided to hit two birds with one stone. She looked embarrassed saying that she was the supposed model for this collection. He regretted his own reaction immediately. It might have given her the impression that he did not think she had the attractiveness of a model. He knew how self-conscious she felt with her body. So, he told her what came to his mind, “You look perfect, Betty.” And, she was. She was really perfect, in all the possible ways.

Veronica was nowhere to be seen. So, he asked Betty if he can take some casual shots to check if the lighting provides the desired effect. She agreed easily.

“Tell me, how would you like me to pose”, she asked as she straddled the chair. A very wrong image formed in his head associating her position with a totally different situation. He gripped his camera tighter and tried to focus on remembering the models’ stances from Toni’s sessions. Thankfully, his pearl princess friend appeared with an innocent smile just on time to save him from any more inappropriate fantasies.

* * *

Fangs got busy with Betty’s dress and makeup. She did not know they would be going for outdoor photoshoot. Fangs told her that after a few formal photos here, Veronica wants them to head for an outdoor location. It made sense. Jughead was an expert in landscape photography. He would be able to make the photos more appealing with the backdrop of nature.

“I heard Jug suggested the location”, Fangs smirked. Something unreadable in his expression. Betty could not decipher what it was. She asked, “where is the location?”

“That’s a surprise, sweetie”, the experienced designer quickly bagged the clothes for outdoor shoot and pushed her out of the dressing room to finish the indoor photos. She looked at herself carefully in the full size mirror. She looked different. A vibrant floral gown with sweetheart neckline and short puff sleeves hung around her body. With silver stilettos, she was at least three inches taller than her natural self. Her hair was in bouncy curls. They applied light makeup on her face. She was not looking drastically overdressed. It was a nice change to her appearance. Subtle but definite. Fangs guided her holding her arms as she was stumbling with high heels. She was comfortable in flats and overalls. But seeing Veronica’s eyebrows shot up in appreciation, she felt confident and a little shy.

Jughead’s gaze lingered on her for a moment and she thought she saw his eyes becoming soft with adoration. But that might only be her imagination. Before she could dwell on that fact more, he went into professional mode and started the shoot. He was good at his job though he was not a regular fashion photographer. He had a natural eye for perfect light and contrast. He did not show her the photos. He even swatted Veronica’s hand away when she tried to grab his camera to take a look.

They were scheduled to leave by ten but were delayed by Jughead shoving all kinds of food in his mouth.

“Will you hurry up?’ Veronica glared at him. He shot back, “Do you want me to pass out in the middle of a shoot?”

She was strolling in the lobby, taking in the changes in all corners. A very familiar redhead appeared at the elevator door and she stopped in her tracks. Archie did not have the devastating effect on her anymore but still the bitter memories of being played were there. She did not have to face him outside a board meeting while she worked with Veronica here. Archie approached her reluctantly, “Uh…Betty. You…You look good.” His tone was not flirtatious. And, she knew that he was giving a genuine compliment now. It still made her cringe. He noticed that. He hung his head low, “I never apologized to you. Because, I felt I was not worth it. I was ashamed with myself. I still am.” He stopped and looked at her. She looked right back at him. No hammering in heart, no quickening of pulses. Archie Andrews did not affect her anymore. He continued again, “I know what I did is unforgivable. I have no excuse for myself. I do not deserve your forgiveness. But if you think you can stop hating me, not today, maybe in future, that would be more than enough for me.”

She felt nothing standing in front of the man who once broke her. He could break her only because she gave that leverage to him. But she has come a long way. And, maybe in a way it was a full circle. Coming back to this company, facing him and ending that poisonous chapter of her life.

“I don’t hate you”, she assured him. “Yes, you are right. I cannot forgive you now. But maybe someday I will.”

He nodded politely in response, “Thank you.” Then he walked towards the cafeteria.

When they finally left the building, her in Jughead’s car and rest of the team divided in two more cars, she felt all tensions waning away from her body. She leaned back on the passenger seat. He smiled at her fondly. This time, a few butterflies made their presence known in her stomach.

* * *

Seeing Archie was good. His friend made a lot of amends, he knew that. He started writing songs again. He started performing in clubs and bars. He has launched his solo albums. He made his name pretty recognizable in the music industry. Long gone his playboy image. His lyrics became mature over years. He removed himself from all the things that caused riff between them. Veronica and Archie are still a little awkward around each other. But they made progress. It was far better that those days of loud arguments or cold wars. Sitting there with Veronica and Archie, reminiscing their school days and laughing together at some funny memories felt like almost natural, like old days. Almost.

Betty on his car’s passenger seat gave him all kinds of emotions. He did not get a chance to process his thoughts after he saw her. They got busy in the indoor shoot. As soon as that was done, Veronica hurried the whole team to be on their way to the location. Betty did not know where the location was. He preferred it that way. He wanted to see her expression when they actually enter her hometown. He did not forget the tender smile she had while talking about Riverdale. As expected, his best friend managed to make Betty ride with him while Fangs and one of his assistants were in Veronica’s Porsche and another small team of people, he does not know their function, was in a big van. They had brunch at the office around ten before embarking on their journey. Thirty minutes into the journey and he already felt his stomach rumbling. Betty’s amused glance proved that she heard that too. “You know, we can stop for you to eat something”, she offered kindly.

“And get eaten by Ronnie after that? No thanks.” He grumbled. She giggled. The sound of her giggle is amazing. He could never find a proper analogy for that. Sound of waves, chirping of birds, perfect octave of music, nothing ever came close compared to her giggling. He could listen to her giggle for his whole life. He loves the way her lips curl, her nose scrunches a little and corners of eyes wrinkle. Her hair bounces as her body trembles slightly with the force of laughter. He moved his focus back on road. She was fumbling through his playlist, trying to select a new song. Her eyes shone happily as she found the song she likes and he almost laughed as Rihanna’s ‘Shut Up and Drive’ blasted through the speakers. She bobbed her head to the beats of music and hummed along. She had a beautiful voice. Not flawless with practice. But naturally melodious. He felt the luckiest man alive on earth at that very moment who was able to enjoy a journey with Betty Cooper, listening to her voice.

She shrieked as the car turned to the road leading to Riverdale.

“Where are we going, Jug?”

He did not know if it slipped from her as Veronica keeps calling him that or she was actually calling him by the nickname. Either way, he did not care. He smiled mysteriously, “you’ll see.”

“Tell me now”, she demanded, placing her palm on his wrist as she spoke. He froze for a moment at her touch and she hastily pulled her hand away. He missed her warmth instantly. None of them said anything for some time before the welcome board with sign “Welcome to Riverdale. The town with Pep” came into sight. He snorted, “Town with Pep? Classy!” She gave him a mild scolding look but that was soft with affection. As they were passing the sign to enter into the town, she smiled at him, “Thank you.” His heart fluttered in his chest.

* * *

As the car took a left turn and entered the dusty road, all her senses were in alert at once. This is a road she is way too acquainted with. Road to her family. Her hometown. Her childhood memories. She straightened in her seat and squealed in excitement, “Where are we going, Jug?”

His shorter name felt so natural on her lips that she chose to ignore the slight hammering sound in her chest. He did not seem to notice. “You’ll see,” he told with a coy smile. But she was impatient. She knew that there was no way they were going to her small town for a photoshoot. Although, if she thinks carefully, Riverdale is a picturesque town. The forest, Sweetwater river, Pickens park, Elm trees lined on both side of the streets, Maple firm. She looked at his side profile. He looks younger than she remembers. Without the constant demand of a typical high-profile job. Chasing his dreams, indulged in his passions. He would love it there. Thinking about him getting excited at the sight of Sunset over the river, or complimenting Pop’s burger with his trademark fascinated grin brought a doting smile on her lips. She tugged at his wrist without second thoughts, “tell me now.” The touch of their bare skin washed her over with memories of such small moments. His hand stopped moving on the steering wheel for a moment before she removed her hand. It did not take long to come across the familiar welcome sign of her hometown.

“Town with Pep? Classy!” his amused voice mixed with sarcasm made heat bloom in her heart. She glared at him with mock offense but was too happy to hide the fondness in her smile. She knew that he chose this spot. He did not know that she would be the model. But he remembered her stories. He genuinely wanted to see the town where she grew up. She was grateful for that. And she felt cared for.

“Thank you”, she said hoping that expressed all her feelings. He grinned at her, “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m only here to try the burgers you told me about.” She laughed. The light joking mood taking over them. There was something about him that made her peaceful even at her worst. Her mind wandered to his flannel safely tucked in her bedroom closet. She never grew out of the habit of enjoying its touch whenever she felt agitated.

His phone started vibrating with Veronica’s number. He put on speaker while continuing driving through the muddy roads around Fox Forest.

“Tell your lady to lead the way Jug”, came Veronica’s teasing voice.

“Ronnie”, he warned weakly only to earn a giggle from his best friend. She found it unnecessarily cute when his hand shot up to his neck and rubbed it in mild embarrassment. She told him about the nice clearing inside Fox Forest, near the river where they used to go for picnic. It was a scenic spot. Maple, Elm and other trees surrounded that area in the shape of a semicircle with Sweetwater river freely flowing on the other side. He gave her a grateful look before following her direction. Other cars trailed them.

* * *

As soon as they reached the spot, he understood why Betty suggested this place. It was mesmerizing. Untouched by human greed and cruelty of civilization. The sky was bluer. The trees were vibrant with bright fall colours painting them in various shades of yellow, orange, red and brown. The river’s crystal-clear water gushing gracefully over the colourful pebbles. It was a little piece of heaven. She must have seen the amazed look on his face as she laughed gleefully.

The group of people in van, he did not know purpose of, turned out to be a tiny team of makeup artists and hair dressers. The van serving purpose of makeshift dressing room. Betty disappeared in the back of the van with Fangs and others. He took out a cigarette and patted his pockets for lighter.

“Do you have to?” Veronica’s disapproving voice came from behind. He spoke while the unlit cigarette dangled from the corner of his mouth, “Do I have to what?”

“Pollute this place?” she gestured around. She did have a point, he thought and put back his cigarette in the box. She looked satisfied. They stood there for some quiet moments, enjoying the tranquillity washing over them. Then his friend spoke again in a hushed tone, “You know, what’s special about this collection. Don’t you?”

“You trying to play a matchmaker?” he supplied casually. She feigned a gasp, then eagerly asked, “is it working?”

He almost laughed at her juvenile behaviour. It reminded him of their teenage years yet again when she relentlessly tried to set him up with one of the girls from her group so that they could go for double dates.

“We have not seen each other in almost five years. She is finally in a good place it seems. I can’t do this to her.”

“Oh! for God’s sake, Jug!” she cried, “Come out of your narcissistic self-loathing bubble for once and look at that girl. What are you scared of anyways?”

 _Of losing her again_. His mind supplied.

He might have answered that someone broken like him could never make a relationship perfect. He can’t be whole again. He will only make her miserable if he drags her with him. He had his sister to take care of. He had a murderer father he is yet to come to terms with. But his train of thoughts was lost even before he could voice any of these opinions. Betty has come out of the van. She is now wearing an ivory coloured lacey ballgown with long sleeves, off shoulder and deep cut at the back. Her golden hair styled in an elegant bun, mascara highlighting her already long eyelashes bringing out the twinkling green of her eyes. If this place was heaven, she was the Goddess that ruled this place.

“Holy shit!” His mouth hung open for a brief moment before Veronica delicately closed his jaw with her two fingers and glided towards a profusely blushing Betty. It was only possible for Veronica to produce a perfectly fresh bouquet of colourful tulips to match the mood. He already knew that he has made the biggest mistake of his life by agreeing to this assignment. How could he possibly stay in his professional boundaries while she dresses up in God knows how many wedding gowns and makes his head spin. His imagination running wild. He did not know how he shifted his concentration to camera and their surroundings. He found the multicoloured treeline to be the perfect backdrop against her white-clad appearance. She was little stiff. Awkwardly standing and clutching the bouquet in her hands. He walked up to her, her body tensed and eyes apprehensive as he approached.

“Relax”, he told her softly before gently touching her shoulders. The tautness loosened at once from her features. She gave him one of her bright smiles that lit up everything in its vicinity. He felt the whole shebang around him blurring into nothingness except her radiant presence showering him with serenity. He focussed on her through his lenses. She was gorgeous. The frame looked surreal. The combination of colours, the lazy autumn sun casting desired light and her. Her smile. Her eyes. Her pale face glowing in sunlight. The loose curls of golden hair hanging carelessly on the side. He might switch to fashion photography soon if the model is same every time.

He somehow survived this torture on his fantasies and irregular heartbeats for few more long hours. She changed into three different outfits consisting of a mermaid dress with sweetheart neckline, a ballerina neckline A-line dress and a halter neck trumpet one. Every time her hairstyle was slightly different. And every single time Veronica produced a different bouquet for her to hold. He never questioned his long-time friend’s ability to make any impossible thing possible. This was just the newest addition. As he finished taking the last snap for the day with the sun reaching low on the horizon, the slight chill in breeze indicated it was time to pack up for the day. He packed his camera and lenses in their bags and sat on the river bank patiently waiting for others. His mind drifting towards Betty. Her magnetic presence. Her adorable personality. He threw his boots away and dipped his ankles in the water. The cool water lapped at his feet and calmed him.

* * *

She saw him sitting on the edge of water, his feet dipped in the river, gaze focussed somewhere far. In this quiet surrounding, he looked like the embodiment of her destination. She felt like it was in her destiny to be here, to sit beside him, to enjoy the serenity of this place with him. She could not quite understand from where this thought came. But she approached him. Remembering his admiring gaze with each step nearer. She was nervous about wearing a bridal gown and posing. And facing him in a bridal dress. She felt bashful. But one touch of his fingers on her shoulders and all the worries faded away. She remembered her first reaction seeing the collection. It was so unexpected to be turned out as a collection like this.

*****************************************************

“It’s a bridal collection!” she gasped with shocked disbelief. Fangs smirked, “Nice observation, Betty”. She pinched him on his side but her eyes were wide looking at the fancy wedding dresses that Fangs now spread in front of her. She could not understand what the indoor photos were all about. Fangs gave a mischievous grin at her question, “Those were decoys”.

“Decoy for what?” she was confused.

Fangs vaguely replied, “V did not want to scare either of you off in the starting.” And she was more confused now. But he quickly changed the topic to his collection. These four are the main designs would be launching in the upcoming bridal collection. She ran her fingers lightly on the dress. Excitement bubbling inside her. As a kid she always pictured her wedding. She wanted a simple one. Only her family and groom’s family in a small church. Her brother and sister’s kids being the ring bearer. White flower decorations adorning their wedding venue. The groom never had a face. She dreamed about them, not on a white horse but in a quiz show or a math competition. She never found anyone whose face she could imagine in her wedding fantasies. Not anyone in college. Not anyone she dated in last five years. But while she was getting dressed for the shoot, in the white lacey gown, a pair of cobalt blue eyes crept their ways into her mind. She did not quite know what she should name this feeling.

*****************************************************

He barely blinked as she kneeled down beside him. His gaze was still fixed on the horizon. A companionable silence fell between them before he broke it, “Are you staying back?” She did not think about it. She was exhausted after starting the day much earlier than other days. And with all the dress ups. She would love to visit her family while she is here. Maybe she could take the train tomorrow. Or, take a day off and go back on Monday. It seemed a good plan. She looked at him. He once told that he would love to explore her hometown. Was it just out of politeness? Maybe not. He is not a people pleaser like her. He has never been. She suddenly felt a flicker of hope inside her that he might want to stay. Then this, their unexpected meeting, does not have to end today. She did not want it to end so early. She wanted more time with him.

“Yeah. I think I will be here for the weekend. Do you…um…do you want to stay?” she asked fearing his obvious excuse of work for not being able to stay back. But he gave her one of his rare lopsided grins revealing the dimple in his left cheek, “Well, I am yet to try that burger of yours.” How she wished she could touch that dimple at that very moment.

* * *

The look on Veronica’s face could only be described as triumphant as he informed her of his stay in Riverdale. She hugged him goodbye with all enthusiasm and whispered, “Are you planning to spend the night at Betty’s?” He pushed her inside her own car and slammed the door to end whatever weird turn this conversation started taking. Their team left leaving a trail of dust in its departure. They stood there, on the ground enfolded by mother nature. Afternoon breeze carried the rustling sound of leaves and caused small ripples in the river. They did not talk for a long stretch, bathing in the blissful quietude. Then, as if on cue, his stomach growled complaining for living on only chips and nachos for last several hours. She looked at him in amusement. They started walking towards the car. And he could not help but notice their perfect height difference. If he holds her in his arms, she will fit in his chest, her nose nuzzling in the crook of his neck. Goosebumps erupted through his skin at that image.

She gave him directions and within minutes they could see the Neon sign of Pop’s, the diner she was so excited about. It really was a small town. He liked the diner. A bell chimed overhead as they walked in. Few beaten trucks and cars were parked outside. So, he expected it to be modestly crowded. But the ambience of the place made it homely, not suffocating. It has a retro style interior, vintage lights, an old stereo playing ‘80s songs, vinyl booths painted in red. He fell in love with the place at once. Pop Tate was a smiling old man. He came out from behind the desk seeing Betty and pulled the girl in a tight affectionate embrace. When they broke apart, he could see both their eyes were not dry. She sniffled a little. The warm affection and hospitality made him to like this place even more. It’s only possible in a small town. They all knew each other, cared for one another. He wondered how it was for Betty to come here and feel at home instantly. Never out of place. Never fearing for abandonment.

“And who is this young man?” Pop Tate asked smiling at him. He extended his hand out of habit, “Jughead.” But the man pulled him also in a bear hug, patting him lightly on the back. He was pleasantly surprised but returned the hug nonetheless. They managed a booth in the corner, overlooking the parking space outside. She ordered a burger and vanilla milkshake for herself and a mega platter with double cheese burgers, fries and milkshake for him. She obviously did not forget his excessive appetite. He went with her order not asking for his usual black coffee.

They fell into easy conversation. Updating each other about their lives. They talked about his sister and her brother. Her parents. He was taken aback that Betty read his novel. His heart swelled knowing she remembered those lines from Veronica’s office decor. He never thought that novel would be so widely appreciated. He did not even have any intention to print it soon. It was all Veronica and Toni. They pushed him each day. Cheryl had some ties with a publisher. They dragged him to a meeting with the publishing company. Finally, when the book released, he was astonished with the positive responses. He went to a few book signing tours all over the world and met people who enjoyed his writing. That gave his confidence a boost. He was planning a sequel to the first part already. Frankly, his life has been like a novel. So, he did not have to scramble for ideas. And he was blessed with way around words. She looked excited at the idea of a sequel. He knew nothing about her life in last five years. Her decision to leave a high-end job and dedicating her talent in NGO was so very Betty Cooper. This was what he always expected of her. He was proud that she survived the corporate world with grace and then chose her heart to follow. They talked about his photography. He went on a monologue about their magazine for a good fifteen minutes. This was very atypical for him, only she could bring this side out. She asked him about any special relationship in his life. She looked rather embarrassed asking this. He laughed it off. No. There was no one. _There will never be._

* * *

It felt good. The easy flow of conversation, his sarcastic comments, the moaning sound he made with first bite of the burger. It felt so natural that she had to remind herself he had never been here before and they did not meet in last five years. She asked him about any special one in his life. Her tone was light, she tried to mask her curiosity with a hint of playfulness. He casually waved it off. There was no one.

"How about you? Did you find anyone?" he asked.

"Well, I tried to", she took a sip of her milkshake. "I went on dates with few people. But apparently if anyone shares my interest in numbers, they are boring corporate guys and if someone is interesting enough to talk to, they would stare at me in a weird way when I share a nerdy math joke."

He tilted his head, "Well, did you try that mosquito and mountain climber joke?" She bit her lower lip to refrain from grinning, "Don't even get me started on the response of an amateur mountaineer to that one."

He tipped his head back and laughed. It showcased the long line of his throat disappearing into his t-shirt, his olive skin nicely contrasting against his clothes.

The sound of his laughter spread warmth through her whole body. She looked at him forgetting their surroundings. Did he always look this handsome when he laughed? Maybe. He never laughed so openly when they worked together. If he were a little happier and stress-free back then,

and she were a little wiser and confident, maybe they would have come to this date five years ago. _This is not a date_ , she reminded herself. But it sure felt like one. The best one she has had in five years. Well, the best one she has had ever. If anything could be compared to it, that would be the time they went to the little cafe and ended up on his roof, talking through whole night.

He snapped his fingers in front of her eyes breaking her reverie, "Where are you lost?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just...", she smiled looking at him, "happiness suits you."

A faint pink blush appeared on his neck and she found it adorable. He took a bite of his burger and replied, "You wound me, Betty. I thought you liked my Holden Caulfield persona."

She giggled, "Yes. You were perfect in that persona. But this one suits you better. All peaceful and content." She was really happy for him too. She saw how torn he was when he worked in the fashion world. Now, it looks like major weights have been lifted from his shoulders.

"How is Toni?" she always had a curiosity about that gorgeous pink haired woman. He once told her that they were close friends. But then he went to Florida to be with her.

He nodded, "She is good. She got married last year."

Her expression might have given her up, because he added, "Her wife, Cheryl. She is in Real Estate."

"Oh", she heaved a sigh, not knowing she was holding it back till now. He told her about their lovely relationship. About Cheryl, how she was a tough nut to crack, how she reminded him of Veronica in early days. She listened intently with a tender expression. His life was interesting. He manages their magazine with Toni, they go for photography tours, he works on his novel, his sister helps him in editing. Florida was good for him. Away from the hustles of big city. With that their chitchat again circled back to her life.

"My mom is pressurizing me every day. As per her, it should be pretty easy. I am, and I quote her words, 'a number girl', so I should be happy with any nerdy math guy. On the other hand, my best friend Kevin thinks it should be easier to live without my math jokes as 'nobody really likes them'", she air-quoted with mock frustration.

"We must all in life choose between what is right and what is easy", he quipped.

"Did you just quote Harry Potter to my dating problem?" she rolled her eyes.

He laughed again, "Don't tell me you are not a Potterhead."

"Oh, I am", she confirmed, "but I did not know you were one."

"You don't know me, Cooper", he shook his head, feigning a serious expression.

But she knew him. She knew how his eyes lit up talking about photography or literature, she knew how agitated he gets when arguing about classics, she knew which joke lightened his mood enough to make him relax in a stressful situation.

She thought if it would be too much to invite him to her house, to stay in their guestroom. Maybe it would. So, she guided him to the only good lodging option in Riverdale, Five Seasons. It was not comparable to the luxury of New York hotels but it was nice. She hoped he would be comfortable here. He offered to drop her home after checking into the hotel. The temptation was too much to accept that offer, but her brother called telling her that he was on his way to their parent’s house and he could give her a ride. So, she decided to take that ride. But she made him promise to be ready tomorrow by early morning. She wanted to show him around. Every memorable spot she has in this town. He smiled bright as they said their goodbyes.

* * *

He could not quite wrap his head around last twelve hours. It was unexpected to see Betty. It was totally startling that she was the model to his photographer. Then the wedding gowns. The heavenly location. Could anything be more perfect? He fears perfect. But today he was not afraid for some reason. When she asked him to stay back, he looked into her eyes and saw a genuine entreaty. She wanted him to be here. He pled to the universe that he was sensing it right. Who is he to refuse her if she wanted him around? He was thankful for his insight to pack an overnight bag and keep it in his car trunk. He had a plan to explore Riverdale even if she was not here. He wanted to understand her more. And, he knew that he could do that here, in this town where her roots are still so deep. His phone buzzed with a message from his sister. She asked how he was enjoying. If she could facetime him. He replied with a facetime call to her. She was excited that he stayed back and planned to roam around the town with Betty.

“She is beautiful, Jug. I already love her”, she exclaimed. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she mumbled something about Veronica showing a picture to her. He sighed. His best friend has always been a saviour and a good one too. He hoped she could save Archie and herself.

Sleep came easily with all day’s exhaustion. A pair of green doe-eyes and golden hair appeared in his dreams. Lulling him into the lap of slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end. Thank you all who left comment/kudos for this story.

_“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,_

_My love as deep; the more I give to thee_

_The more I have, for both are infinite.” - Romeo and Juliet_

Serendipity. He was fascinated with the word when it first got added to his vocabulary. His vocabulary was undoubtedly stronger than anyone of his age. It was a side effect of being a loner and finding friends in the pages of book. But there were some words that kept him awake at night, imagining all kinds of wonderful things, rolling them at the tip of his tongue again and again. When he grew up, he lost his belief in destiny. Or, God. Or, any super power taking ultimate decisions. He knew if it was not for his hard work, his father would have never been arrested. If it were not for Fred’s help, his sister would have never been back to normal life. There was no one making kind decisions for you, saving you from evil. It’s you and only you. Fighting to survive. But meeting Betty was the first thing he classified in mind as Serendipity. That fateful night on his terrace, the deep conversation they shared, the havoc it caused at the end, and drifting apart from her, destiny. Meeting her again? Probably that was fate too. He was both thrilled and terrified at the thought. Because, maybe it meant they were destined to be together, but also, you cannot control your fate. He does not like the idea of being someone’s puppet in his own life. Fearing how his fate could snatch her away again anytime. But then, he remembered that none of those were mere chances. It was their choices that led to the events. His choice. Her choice. And, it was Veronica’s plan to get them together, not the Universe’s. His best friend did not lay back and let the stars decide for him and Betty to meet again. She decided to give them a chance. In the end, it’s always your choices that make up your destiny. He was ready to take that chance. He wanted to choose something for himself maybe for the first time in his life.

***

He could not remember a Sunday or any other day when he got up before sunrise. He did see sunrises. A lot of them. Those were the end of his sleepless nights. Not a beginning of new day after previous night’s good sleep. So, it was a first for him. It was a first for him in many aspects. He was welcomed with a bright and smiling Betty Cooper when he came down to the lobby after freshening up. She had her glasses on today. A thick black frame giving her face an oddly endearing girlish look. She was holding two coffee cups on her hand. “Good morning!” she greeted him with a jolly voice. It was black coffee for him just how he likes it with only a spoonful of sugar, no cream. With the first sip, he felt his day getting brighter. He wore a navy-blue button down today. Carefully selected from the colourful clothes his sister packed in his bag. He matched it with his black jeans. She was looking radiant in a pastel pink cardigan and knee-length denim skirt. Her ponytail swaying with each step. It was not yesterday’s elegant bride. It was the innocent and energetic girl he first got attracted to. Only that same girl now got past her previous nervousness and shyness. She took him to Pickens park first. To see the sunrise. The park was quiet. Not a single soul wandering there. They sipped their coffees as she sat themselves on a white bench. She told that was her favourite seat. It was under a Willow tree which gave it enough shade in summer days. But it was situated strategically to have the best view of the horizon over the carefully cut bushes on the other end. The sky was painted in a shade of pink matching her sweater and her cheeks. As the sun started peeping over the horizon, the colour changed. It turned to vibrant orange and red. Mixed with clear blue. The sun bloomed in the sky, gold petals stretching ever outwards into the rich blue. She grabbed his hand absentmindedly as the sun rays hit the top of big trees in the park and basked them in golden beams. He enjoyed the warmth of her hand in his. He interlaced their fingers together. It felt the right thing to do. If she noticed, she did not pull away her hand. They sat there for some more time. Giving the sun time to fully shine over the horizon before they headed for the next spot.

It was her school. Riverdale High was an ancient structure having cramped parking place and a wide open playground. The school was closed and she rambled about not being able to show him the newspaper office where she worked for extracurricular. They went to a bagel place she had in mind for breakfast. As they walked, they met people. All of them knew her. They greeted her with warm smiles. They asked her about her current life. They were happy that her brother could save their family business. They were curious about her life. He felt all of these very heart warming and intruding at the same time. But he understood that was how small-town people were. They were extended families to each other. When they reached the bagel place, which was a little breakfast joint with few outdoor seating arrangements, she turned to him and said sorry for the delay.

“Come on Betts, those people know you your whole life. Of course, I understand.” He assured her. The bagel was tasty and he ended up having three of them with another coffee. She looked pleased with his consumption rate.

“Where are we going next?” he asked. She smiled mischievously, “you’ll see.” He raised his eyebrows at her. She shook her head, still smiling. Then, her smile faded. She opened her mouth a couple of times trying to say something. But closed again. She kept pushing up her glasses on her nose with index finger. He figured it was a nervous tick for her. He waited patiently for her to end her inner battle and open up. She did eventually, “Err…my mom wanted you to have lunch with us. I mean if you are not comfortable, I can understand. It’s not…”

“Betty”, he cut her. “I would love to.”

* * *

She was nervous, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. How on earth she could ask him to have lunch with her family without making him feel like it was a meet parents visit? But again, it was him. She has always been at her most relaxed state with him. She could not understand how it could be so effortless with him. It was like they met every day for past five years. She never felt the connection like this with anyone else. And, she realized it after she lost him. Their bond was so natural that she did not even acknowledge it when he was there. It was like not sensing the presence of oxygen every second of your life. Then he was gone and she felt the loss. They felt like two pieces of jigsaw puzzle that do not make much sense on their own. But when fit together, they create a compelling story. It was a little frightening. This connection. They drifted apart from each other. But they clicked together the moment they saw one another again.

“Err…my mom wanted you to have lunch with us. I mean if you are not comfortable, I can understand. It’s not…”, she knew she was jabbering. But she could not help it. Her parents were very keen on meeting the man who was interested in their small town.

_“The man who stole my daughter’s heart”, her father joked last night. Heat bloomed in her cheeks at that and she warned her father, “Dad, it’s nothing like that.” Chic interjected, “Oh. Then why are you turning into a tomato, little sis?”_

He cut her nervous babbling with a simple, “I would love to.” She did not know why she was so nervous. He was the most easy-going person she has met. At least, for her.

She told him to take his car as her next plan was to show him the swimming hole after breakfast. It was a short drive. It was chilly to swim but sitting there under the cool shade of trees and looking at the water felt good. She told him all the stories from her childhood. For each summer. The times she would jump into the water blindly without her glasses. He seemed to be enjoying the small stories. They talked about nothing and everything for some more time before they allowed an intimate silence to engulf them.

“Jug…the character in your novel. The one with green eyes and ponytail…”, she played with the grass on which they were sitting. She could not look at him.

“Yeah. It was based on you.”

He replied so easily. Her heart stilled. He thought so highly of her? She was the light? When it was always him, saving her. She could not remember a time when she did anything for him.

“Did you mean it? Whatever you wrote?”

“Every word of it.” He answered without batting an eyelid. Now, she turned fully to face him. Sunrays illuminating half of his face seeping through the tree branches. His azure eyes sparkling with honesty. There was no mystery on his face. He was relaxed. He was truthful. His ever-unruly curls splaying on his forehead making him look like more boyish than he usually looks. She started tearing up.

“Why? I tangled myself into a relationship with an engaged man. I helped him in his fraud. Why would you write all those nice things about me?” she whispered.

“Because Betty, our mistakes do not define us. The regret, owning up to our wrong decisions and the way we deal with them, make us who we are.” He told. After a long pause, in which time she started sniffling a little, unable to hold her emotions, he took one of her hands in his.

“Betty, you don’t know everything about me. I joined my father’s gang for a brief time. Because, I thought that would make him happy. I blamed myself for that choice for a long time. But finally, I realized it did not make me a bad person. It was just a bad choice. It was my determination and hard work to send my father to jail for all his crimes, that defined me.”

She could hear him all day. She could let him soothe her, draw small circles on her wrist with his thumb, let him hold her for a lifetime. It was such an overwhelming emotion. Knowing that he accepted her as a whole. He did not hold her mistake against her. Even if it disrupted his life plans. Even if it broke Veronica and Archie’s engagement.

“I tried to take my own life once.” He admitted absentmindedly. She was snapped back to reality. The pain and shame in his voice making her heart ache. She squeezed his hand back immediately, “I know. I heard three of you in Archie’s office.” He looked at her in surprise. She told him about the day. How she listened to their conversation and how she made it her secret to protect. He told her all about that time in his life. He lost the purpose of life. He was exhausted. And, hurt. But he turned his life around. He took the recourse of photography to escape the darkness within him. At last, he made it. Not unscathed, but in one piece.

They held each other’s hands and assured that they were just normal persons with some past mistakes and haunting memories. But at the end of the day, they are good people.

“I’m not the divine angel, you painted me like. I am damaged”, she let a few teardrops escape her eyes and confessed in a small voice.

“Who told you angels cannot have broken wings?” he brushed the tears away with his thumb.

* * *

Cooper house was just as he expected it would be. A four-bedroom house with white picket fence and neatly mowed front lawn. The lunch with Betty’s family went surprisingly well for him. He never had a proper family growing up. For him, the family meals meant dinner at Andrews’ house. Fred and Mary were more friends to him than they were parents. Having lunch with her family was different. Her parents were the embodiment of parental love and concern. Her brother was also there with his boyfriend. Whole family welcomed him with such warmth that he wondered what he did to deserve this. The homemade meal was delicious and he did not hold back from praising every item. He enjoyed the chatter with Hal and Alice, Chic and Charles. They were all kind people. Eager to make him feel a part of the family. And he was at ease. He felt at home. Chic wanted to watch a movie after lunch but his sister had other plans.

“Jug is only here for today. I want him to show everything.”

“What else is there to show him?” Chic argued. He also thought the same thing. They almost covered the entire town. But she told that there were still places she wanted him to see.

He did not expect the place to be the other side of railway tracks. ‘The wrong side of tracks’, as she described it. It was the Southside of Riverdale. She told him that there lived the other part of Riverdale population. Not all bright and modest. It was dark and gloomy. Streets were narrow. Worn out trailers lined up in trailer park. People were dirty and loud. Poverty clawed its way everywhere. There was a bar with glowing neon sign. The parking was full of motorcycles, leather jackets and smoke. She informed him about the two rival biker gangs in this part of town. They deal drugs and do other petty illegal activities to scrape a living. Sometimes there would be turf war, only then police and other residents would actually acknowledge their presence in the town. As a ‘plague’ to the otherwise perfect all-American town. She had spent a lot of time here trying to know these people. They were all good-natured people. The situation made them do some things they were not proud of. But she felt they were as much part of Riverdale as the Northsiders were. She wrote articles about them in school newspaper only to get warnings from their principal. She came here for Halloween to distribute candy to the kids in this neighbourhood. She came here for Christmas to give away new clothes that she managed to buy from the savings of her pocket money. She used to teach the kids here regularly, in her free time. They drove through the roads in Southside. She took him inside the trailer park to meet an old woman, Angela. She lived alone. She lost her only son long ago to gang violence. But others in her son’s gang took care of her. They were her family. She was very happy to see Betty. Betty helped her whenever she could, however she could. Not only her, many others like her.

Nobody knew about this except Kevin. Not even her family. His heart swelled. This was the Betty Cooper he knew. He felt her caring, forgiving, pure heart the first time he laid eyes on her. But there was more. She was not only kind and considerate. She was also a fighter. She has proven that in her life. He was proud of her. And, he was grateful that she trusted him with her secrets. She considered him close enough to share this part of her life. He wanted to tell her that this was what made her the angel in his story. This was what shaped her. Not a stupid mistake with Archie.

Later, she took him to Pop’s for burgers saying they had only one last place to explore. She took a day off on Monday. She would take the train next day. He had to go back to New York that night. He had a lot of work to do with his photos. Also, he had to go on a long drive back to Florida after that. So, their last destination would be their last moments together. The thought tightened his chest. But he ignored that feeling.

When he stopped his car following her directions in the parking lot of a drive-in, he was speechless. She beamed at him, “Do you like it?” Like it? He was one step away from professing his love for her. For the amazing woman she is. For how well she knew him. For her twinkling eyes, her glowing smile, her curing touch. The board said movie for the night was ‘Rebel without a cause’. One of his favourites. But there was no surprise. Betty Cooper knew him so well.

* * *

She was a little nervous if he would like the old drive-in. The ancient projector. She knew that he was a fan of classics. She knew that he would love the movie. She was not so sure about the ambience. But his softened expression and the sparkling in his eyes told her that he loved it. The projection booth was managed by one of her high school classmates, Trevor Brown. She requested him for this movie tonight. Anyways, nobody comes to this drive-in anymore. It was only few crazy and nostalgic people like her. And, him. They went out of their car. There was an old rusty truck with comfy looking blankets set on the back. She thanked Trev for his efforts. They bought popcorn from the concession stand and settled themselves on the back of the truck. Under a starry night, with a slightly cold night breeze, the old projector came to life. She snuggled a little closer to him, giving excuse of sharing the bowl of popcorn to herself. Apparently, he did not mind as he made space for her and lifted one arm for her to scoot under. Sometime during the movie, her head ended up on his shoulder and fingers of their free hands entwined. She found it oddly familiar and domestic.

As he pulled over in front of her house, she felt the time was spent too quickly. He would go back to New York and then to Florida in two days. She did not know what this was, but whatever this was she was not ready for this to end. She longed for more time with him. She did not want him to leave.

"This is me", she tried to sound casual but disappointment seeped through her voice. He must have noticed the same, he turned to look at her. Their eyes locked and she wanted to hold that contact forever. It seemed like he could look through her bare soul. She did not want to hold back anything from him either. She was drowning in that ocean of blue. His gaze flickered momentarily to her lips. Maybe it was her imagination, but she wanted to take a chance. If it was mistake, she was happy to make one for herself. She sent a silent prayer to the stars that she was reading the signs correctly. Without overthinking it, she leaned in and pressed her lips on his. There was a moment, and then he was kissing her back passionately. Her fingers tugged on his smooth messy hair. His palms came up to cradle her face. The kiss was slow and full of emotions. Both of them wanted to make up for the lost time. They devoured each other’s mouth with lips and tongues. When they broke apart for air, she rested her forehead on his and whispered, "I missed you, Jug."

And she did. She did not even know how much until she spoke those words aloud. His eyes were closed, he did not open them. Caressing her cheek with his thumb, he replied, "I missed you too, Betts." Kissing Jughead was something that felt like their entire relationship. She felt moored. At home. Blissful. He tasted like mint and fresh coffee. His touch on her cheeks featherlight and comforting.

When she leaned in for another kiss, he stopped her. Her heart dropping at that gesture. But his eyes expressed something else. He held her hand and spoke softly, “Betty, I want this. But do you want this? Do you want us?”

Yes, she does. On retrospect, maybe she always did. But now the answer was clear and easy. Without the chaos of their confusion and self-loathing. She wanted to be with him. She wanted more of him. And she definitely wanted an ‘us’. So, she told him that.

***

“I do want us, Jug.” She replied. His heart stopped beating for a moment. Kissing Betty Cooper was everything he imagined and more. Her petal soft lips pressed on his, the small moaning sound escaping her throat, her fingers threaded in his hair. She tasted like the vanilla milkshake she had earlier in Pop’s. She smelled like fresh flower. It was an experience he would never forget. Like every other experience he had with her. But she was in New York. He was in Florida. He could never ask her to throw away her career and come to him. On the other hand, he could not go back to New York as he made his life in Florida now. And, it was a good life. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. It was only their first kiss. But when it came to Betty, he could not hold back. They lost five years of their lives.

As if sensing his thoughts, she cupped his cheek in her palm. He leaned onto her touch.

“We will make it work, Jug. Trust me.”

And he did. She was one person he would trust any day. He pressed his lips on hers now. Drowning in the feeling of warmth and happiness. All worries and negative notions fading away from his mind.

* * *

She opened the door of her apartment in Bronx, expecting the pizza delivery guy. But it was not. It was the tall frame of Jughead leaning against the wall, with a brilliant smile on his face. She gasped in surprise, “Jug!! You told me you were on the way to Florida.”

“That was the plan, baby”, he commented casually. She could not help but swoon at the term of endearment. She opened the door wide to let him enter. His eyes did not leave her body as he entered.

“Nice flannel”, he said with a smirk. She forgot that she wrapped his flannel around to feel his touch. She was missing him. And she thought they would not meet for at least another month, till the collection launch party. But here he was, smiling at her. His hands on her shoulder, lightly pinching the fabric. She wrapped her arms around his waist and melted in his chest. Taking in comforting body heat radiating from him. He is the one person who could make her feel protected and anchored only with his presence.

He teased her about being America’s next supermodel as he showed her the photos from their shoot. He had few candid shots that he took when she was not posing. She loved those the most. The way he captured a streak of light illuminating a part of her face and hair with a sharp contrast to other half of her feature dark in shadow, she marvelled at his talent. They watched Netflix while having the pizza she ordered. They made popcorn and solved maths puzzles online. She snuggled against his side on the couch in her living room. Sharing a blanket. Their legs thrown over each other. Exchanging chaste kisses occasionally. It was when he reached across her to get to the popcorn tub sitting on the other side, she could not hold herself back from kissing the crook of his neck softly. His hand landed on the side of her hips instead of the popcorn and he captured her lips in a bruising kiss. She moaned into the kiss. His lips travelled lower finding the underside of her jaw, the column of neck and the sweet spot behind her earlobe. Her fingers looped in his messy curls. Her breathing laboured. “Bedroom”, she whispered in his ears. He swooped her in his arms and carried her bridal style to her pastel pink bedroom.

***

They were laying side by side, her head on his bare chest listening to his heartbeats, her hands wrapped around his torso. He was tracing circles with his fingers on her exposed back. He could not believe how he got so lucky to have such a beautiful woman in his arms.

“The NGO I work for has their branch in Florida. I was thinking to get a transfer.” She informed him tilting her head back a little to gaze him into the eyes. The shade of green in her eyes has always astounded him. They had the freshness of a forest in them.

“I could not possibly ask you to do that for me.” He tucked few rogue strands of hair behind her ears.

“I am not doing this for you. I’m doing this for us. I want to do this. Besides, I want to help people, it does not matter where I help them.” She told tracing his jaw with her fingers. Her expression was sincere. He felt a lump in his throat. his emotions getting better of him at the fact that she was ready to choose him over anything else.

He still had doubts. Her family was closer to New York. But she insisted that her father was doing a lot better now. Her brother was there. And, it’s not like they were moving to another continent. They would still come for holidays. Her sweet voice assuring him again and again it was not something he should run away from. It was something to embrace with all his life and go for it. His fear of abandonment would not come in their way this time. It was time to rectify their poor choices of the past. The declaration of his love for her clogged in his throat once again. Love was a strong word. He did not want their relationship to be burdened with his emotional baggage right now. He did not want her to feel any pressure. They had time. He would do it another day. When the atmosphere would not be so heavy with impending goodbye.

* * *

He did not know it would take another year to profess his love for her. She would move to Florida. Transferring to the NGO's branch there. After three months, she would move in with him. They would create their new life together piece by piece.

A lovely afternoon of another fall. They were in Toledo. Outside the graveyard. This was the first time he took her to meet his mother. After visiting her grave, they were on their way to the small hotel they booked for the night. He was about to light a smoke when she would take the cigarette from between his lips and scold him in a tone laced with equal amounts of worry and affection, "Juggie, you know this is not good for your health."

That would be the moment, he would pull her closer and tell her that he loves her. It would be as unceremonious and cliché as it could get. But she would not mind. She would be on her tiptoes to peck his lips and tell him that she loves him back. They would grin ear to ear like they were teenagers in love, looking at each other.

* * *

The season of fall would weave itself into their lives as they would take their vows to be together in yet another fall. In a small church. Just like she dreamed it to be. Only their family and friends with them. Polly being her maid of honour and Jellybean being his ‘best man’. Archie was there with Fred and Mary. He could not imagine his wedding day without his childhood best friend. His friend made some terrible mistakes in the past. But he still was his brother. Specially after knowing how he worked hard to rectify his mistakes. She forgave his redhead friend. When he asked her if she would mind Archie’s presence in their wedding, she pressed her palms on his chest and met his eyes, “Somebody once told me that our mistakes do not define us. Archie has come a long way, so did I. I’m happy that you got your best friend back.”

Juniper and Dagwood were the ring bearers. Veronica decorated the venue in a simple but classy way. He was pleasantly surprised to see the silver promise ring back in his friends’ left hand.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

She brushed some imaginary dust particles from his suit and toyed with his bow tie, “Maybe someday. But today is your day. And I could not be happier for you.”

Kevin, Fangs, Toni, Cheryl and Betty's family were all there. Hal walked his daughter through the aisles, tears in his eyes. It was not a spectacular celebration but it was a blissful ceremony.

As he looked into the eyes of his beautiful bride, dressed in a traditional wedding gown, standing in front of him at the altar, he knew that the curse has finally been lifted from Jones luck. He knew that he had got his fairy tale ending. They would start a great saga of life long romance and fights from here. Life would never be easy. But with her by his side it would be worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Archie is kind of asshole, sorry Archie fans. But he will come to his senses, I promise.  
> 2\. I am kind of obsessed with Jug/Veronica relationship, not a romantic one but like best friend or siblings.


End file.
